
Class B A t 
Book _ .Ak 




A HISTORY 



ROMAN & ENGLISH HIERARCHIES, 



&c. &c. 



A HISTORY 

OF THE 

ROMAN AND ENGLISH HIERARCHIES; 

WITH 

AN EXAMINATION 

OF THE 

ASSUMPTIONS, ABUSES, AND INTOLERANCE 

OF 

EPISCOPACY; 



PROVING THE 



Btttmitv of a Utfovmet* iingltsf) <£t>utt% 



4 
BY JAMES ABBOTT, A.B. 

(LATE FELLOW- COMMONER) 
OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. — 



11 Persecution for diversity of opinions, however ridiculous and absurd they may be, is 
contrary to every principle of sound policy and civil freedom. The names and subordination of 
the clergy, the posture of devotion, the materials and colour of the ministers' garment, the 
joining in a known or unknown form of prayer, and other matters of the same kind, must be left 
to the option of every man's private judgment."— Blackstone. 



LONDON : 

Q 

PUBLISHED BY SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, 



STATIONERS HALL COURT. 



M DCCC XXXI. 

c 



f> 



& 



<^ 



•V 



MAKJETTE AND SAVILIj, PRINTERS, 107, ST. MARTIN'S LANE. 



LC Control Number 



ill 



tmp96 029041 



TO HER MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, 

QUEEN ADELAIDE, 

ROYAL CONSORT TO HIS MAJESTY WILLIAM THE FOURTH, 
KING OF ENGLAND, &c. &c. &c. 



Madam, 
When I contemplate and admire Chris- 
tianity, in its genuine simplicity and power, 
unconnected with fanaticism and corruption, 
and compare it with the cool and formal 
religion of the present day, professed by the 
great and noble of the earth, I cannot but 
anticipate the assurance, with which sages 
and prophets have consoled us — that these 
times shall have an end, that a new order 
of things shall arise, and that the blessings 
of the Gospel shall, ere long, call forth the 



11 

mighty and powerful to the sacred and 
lofty measures of adoration and praise; 
when the prediction of the Prophet Isaiah, 
that " Kings shall be nursing fathers, and 
Queens nursing mothers" to the true Church 
of God, shall be fulfilled ; and the glad- 
tidings of the Gospel of Christ shall be heard 
throughout the land. — With this glorious 
prospect before me, I present to your Ma- 
jesty this Book, believing that your Majesty 
estimates things, not by the factitious claims 
of rank and wealth, but by the standard of 
reason and rectitude. I feel assured that 
Truth desires nothing more than a fair, im- 
partial hearing ; and believe that no one is 
more likely to procure this for her than your 
Majesty, whom all your subjects allow to be 
familiar with her in her retirement. 

May the name of Queen Adelaide adorn 
the page of history, not only with those social 



Ill 

virtues which are eminently your Majesty's, 
but also with those Christian virtues which 
will live when crowns and sceptres shall cease; 
and which are the pledges of a kingdom that 
will never end — a throne incorruptible and 
effulgent ! That this may be your Majesty's 
inheritance, is the sincere prayer of, 

Madam, 

Your Majesty's 
Faithful and loyal Subject, 

JAMES ABBOTT. 



REFORMED ENGLISH CHURCH, 
Cannon-street Road, 

St. George's, East. 



September 14th, 1831. 



a2 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction — Origin of the present Work — Letter to Dr. 
Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury, containing a caution 
against acting with prejudice — His Grace's Letter in reply 
— Interview with the Archbishop — Remarks on the same — 
Letter to his Majesty, as Supreme Head of the Church of 
England, on episcopal intolerance as connected with ordina- 
tion — His Secretary, Lord Melbourne's Reply — Act of Supre- 
macy — Stricture on Lord Melbourne's Letter — Design of the 
work — Concluding Reflections. 



CHAP. PAGE 

I. The Origin and Gradual Advance of Papal 

Tyranny in England .....] 
II. The Progressive Power and Usurpation of 

Bishops . 13 

III. The Inquisition (a digression) — Progressive 

Power and Usurpation of Bishops, continued 26 

IV. The Progressive Power and Usurpation of 

Bishops, concluded . . . . .41 
V. Episcopal Power and Usurpation founded on 

the Weakness of Human Nature . . 54 

VI. Episcopal Power and Usurpation inconsistent 

with the Gospel of Christ ... 63 

VII. Bishops and Presbyters originally the same 

Order 80 

VIII. The Uninterrupted Succession of the Clergy 

refuted ....... 91 

IX. The Uninterrupted" Succession of the Clergy 

refuted, concluded ..... 99 

X. History of Tithes 106 

XI- History of Tithes, concluded . . .118 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAP. PAGE 

XII. The Wealth of the English Church compared 
with the Wealth of the Churches of other 
Nations 131 

XIII. History of Church Holidays . . .162 

XIV. History of Church Holidays, continued . 171 
XV. History of Church Holidays, continued . 181 

XVI. History of Church Holidays, continued . 187 

XVII. History of Church Holidays, concluded . 199 

XVIII. Church Ceremonies 211 

XIX. Creeds and Confessions of Faith . . . 229 
XX. The Clearness of Scripture . . .236 
XXI. Remarks on the Liturgy of the Church of 

England 245 

XXII. The Church of England proved to be a Crea- 
ture of the State 252 

XXIII. The Clergy of the Church of England proved 

to be Creatures of the State . . . 259 

XXIV. A General Idea of Priestcraft . . .266 
XXV. The Force of Education in Matters of Religion 273 

XXVI. Mutual Bitterness and Persecution among 
Christians, repugnant to the doctrines of 
Christ, and detestable to a rational Pagan 282 
XXVII. An Inquiry into Religious Establishments . 290 
XXVIII. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
Church . . ... . .304 

XXIX. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
Church, continued . . . . .315 
XXX. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
Church, continued ..... 326 

XXXI. The Reduction of Episcopacy, and of the 
present Liturgy, necessary for a Reformed 
Church, concluded 339 

XXXII. The Peace and Unity of the Church . . 352 



INTRODUCTION. 



In submitting to the public the following pages, 
which are designed to trace out and expose the va- 
rious abuses and usurpations which exist in the 
Established Church of England, it will be expected 
that I should give some account of the origin of 
an undertaking which some may regard as rash, 
profitless, or absurd. That the efforts of a private 
individual to redress public grievances must be 
limited in their more immediate effect, I am well 
aware ; and also, that such endeavours incur the 
risk of misrepresented motives, personal suffering, 
and angry reprobation. But it is impossible, as is 
observed by Dr. Johnson, to determine the limits 
of inquiry, or to foresee the consequences which 
discovery may produce. It is, indeed, evident, that 
public attention, in the first instance, must be 
roused to general activity by individual exertion, 
however fatal or inconvenient it may be to him by 
whom it is first made. I pretend not, however, 
to have discovered any thing before radically 
unknown, but to disclose facts which accident 
or the artifice of those who are implicated may 
have concealed from the public view, and to deduce 
such inferences as would suggest themselves to an 
ordinary and unbiassed judgment. 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

As a portion of my personal history is connected 
with the present undertaking, I must present the 
reader with a brief sketch of the events in which 
it originated. 

I was educated in the principles and faith of the 
Established Church, and designed to be numbered 
amongst her clergy. But, from my earliest ac- 
quaintance with her mode of government I con- 
sidered it to be incompatible with the precepts of 
the gospel, and subversive of that religious liberty 
which, as Christians, we ought to profess. I have 
continued in her communion, however, and endea- 
voured to enter her ministry, being actuated by the 
desire of a union between myself and her members, 
which I regarded as the best means of aiding an 
intended effort to produce a reform of her manifold 
corruptions and abuses. During the last fifteen 
years, I have perceived that a veiy material alter- 
ation in her government was demanded by common 
sense and common honesty ; and thence I have been 
endeavouring to qualify myself for the execution of 
the present undertaking. 

To me, titles, dignities, and riches have never 
appeared as the chief good, or even as essentially 
constituent of the happiness of the life of man. I 
have considered them, when weighed with honesty 
and a good conscience, as dust in the balance. The 
influence which I also observed them to exercise 
upon clerical conduct, and the spirit of domination 
and insolence which their possession generated in 
prelatical characters, convinced me that their ex- 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

istence in any church must be a source of certain 
and positive evil. Hence I have conceived that all 
honour is disgraceful, and all profit vile, which are 
the result of mean compliances with corrupt sys- 
tems ; and that obsequious submissions to corrupt 
and despotical men is a base desertion of the sim- 
plicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

My general sentiments on the state and cor- 
ruptions of the church were published in 1821 ; 
but as they met with much opposition from the 
clergy, I was induced to withdraw them from 
public notice till a more favourable period should 
arrive. At this time, I came into possession of a 
Chapel atDavington, in Kent. I repaired the dila- 
pidated edifice, and preached in it for twelve months, 
to large and respectable audiences. But the fact of 
my not being episcopally ordained, as well as the 
large congregations which attended, excited the 
jealousy of the neighbouring clergy and the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. I was therefore induced to 
discontinue preaching, and to enter the University 
of Cambridge, preparatory to receiving episcopal 
ordination. I subsequently, in a letter addressed to 
an eminent American Divine, disclosed my intention 
of attempting a reform in the government of the 
Episcopal Church. After the lapse of several years, 
spent in the requisite studies, and having received 
the necessary testimonials from the College to 
which I belonged, I applied, in 1830, to the Bishop 
of Norwich, for the rite of ordination. Strange to 
say, however, he brought into the field against me 



X INTRODUCTION. 

the secretary of the present Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, and who had been my opponent, in 1821, for 
my resistance, during the late Queen's trial, to the 
tyranny of his former patron, Dr. Sutton. The 
fact of my having preached without episcopal ordi- 
nation had been recorded by that prelate, a caution 
was issued against my being admitted into the 
church, and the Bishop thence refused me admission 
into holy orders. This, after much inquiry and cor- 
respondence with the Bishop of Norwich, the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and their secretaries, I 
discovered to be the cause of my application being 
rejected. Several letters having passed between 
me and Dr. Howley on this subject, in which his 
Grace was dark and mysterious, I was resolved 
to close the subject, and for this purpose I wrote 
the following letter to the Archbishop. 

Bracondale House, Norwich, 

Sept. 17, 1830. 

My Lord, 

After all the explanation I have given to 

your Grace, relative to my connexion with Daving- 

ton, ten years ago, and after having taken my 

degree at Cambridge, I beg simply to know if I 

am to be precluded from episcopal ordination ? It 

may be proper, here, to pause. 

It is not for my own sake that I wish your Grace 
to consider the responsibility of your situation. 
But I do request your Grace to beware, lest you 
indulge any emotion of resentment. If I am re- 
fused ordination, or treated contemptuously by 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

your Grace, my case will be delivered to the world, 
and will not be able to be recalled. The conspiracy 
against an innocent man cannot alter facts, nor 
refute arguments ; and I pray that your Grace will 
not furnish me with materials against yourself. It 
has been well said, that an honest man, like the 
true religion, appeals to the understanding, or mo- 
destly confides in the internal evidence of his con- 
science. The impostor employs force instead of 
argument — imposes silence where he cannot con- 
vince. I Will Only add, 'Opt/xa lums xaQo§a Ttcara, rx 
yiyvofxevoc. 

I am, my Lord, 
Your Grace's obedient, faithful Servant, 

JAMES ABBOTT. 
P.S. I must again beg the favour of your Grace 
to forward me the five original documents in your 
Grace's possession. J. A. 

To the most Reverend 
Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. 

The following is his Grace's letter, in return : — 

Dover, Oct. 20M, 1830. 
Sir, 

In answer to your question respecting ordi- 
nation, I have only to say, that whenever I shall be 
referred to by any bishop, it will be my duty to 
inform him of the circumstances which occasioned 
a caution to be issued by the late Archbishop. 
I remain, Sir, 

Your obedient, humble Servant, 
W. CANTUAR. 

To James Abbott, Esq. 

Bracondale House, Norfolk. 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

On receiving this letter from his Grace, I com- 
mitted the whole of the correspondence, which con- 
sisted of forty-three letters, to press ; and the fol- 
lowing November, having occasion to visit London, 
I called on Dr. Howley. His Grace received me 
courteously, but answered me with extreme cau- 
tion ; indeed, after using my best endeavours, for 
upwards of half an hour, to obtain some satisfac- 
tion, I could obtain no other reply than — " I have 
no wish to interfere against you, Mr. Abbott. I 
must attend to my official duties. If a bishop 
apply to me, I must inform him, that there appears 
in the books of my predecessor a caution to the 
bishops, not to ordain you without reference to 
him. I can say no more."— I delicately pointed 
out to his Grace the absurdity of such a subterfuge, 
and the impossibility of applying to a dead man ; 
and begged to know, if an archbishop had nothing 
more than his official duty to perform, and if he 
thought my conduct, in any one instance, deserved 
the treatment I received ? ' ' I can make you no 
other reply than I have done, Mr. Abbott," said 
his Grace. Finding it useless to altercate, I left 
the Archbishop, who absolutely refused to look at 
my printed documents against his predecessor, the 
Bishop of Norwich, and his clergy. 

There was so much in this interview repugnant 
to my principles, that I resolved never to seek epis- 
copal ordination out of the diocese of Norwich. A 
liberal mind must reprobate the conduct of Dr. 
Howley, who would evade every argument, and 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

prevent all discussion and inquiry, that might tend 
to clear and justify me in opposing the spirit of 
intolerance and the persecution of his predecessor, 
and also a bishop who ought long before to have 
been superannuated. Let it be remembered, that 
it is the duty of a bishop to endeavour to reclaim, 
rather than to punish. The scourge and the inqui- 
sition ought never to supply the place of justice or 
of argument. Archbishop Sutton chose the for- 
mer, without using one effort towards effecting the 
latter. His Grace never hinted to me an objection 
to my assisting in the duties of Davington ; but, 
like a despot of the dark and tyrannical ages of the 
ancient decemviri, or the later Roman emperors, 
breathing revenge for performing what in my con- 
science I considered a duty, he issued an edict which 
was calculated to blast my character and reputation, 
and which led me into difficulties and embarrass- 
ments from which I am but just extricated ; and 
which his successor, with the mildness and com- 
placency of a Nerva, renewed. # Thus a second 

* Tillemont, discussing the antiquity of Christian churches, 
informs us that none were erected till the peace of Alexander 
Severus ;f and Mr. Moyle says, not till the peace of Gallienus.^: 
Till this period, we find the Christians held their assemblies in 
private houses and sequestered places. And though Christ and 
his apostles were allowed to preach in the Jewish synagogue, 



t Memoires Ecclesiastiques, torn, iii, part 2, pp. 68 — 72. 
\ Vol. i. pp. 378—398. 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

persecution was commenced, after the revolution 
of ten years, by another Christian bishop, who un- 
blushingly tells us he derives his claims of office 
from Jesus Christ, though he tyrannizes over a 
mind he cannot subdue. 

I must confess that, during my correspondence 
with the bishops, I felt more for their character, 
than interest for episcopal ordination, for I never 
thought this essential to the usefulness of a minister 
of Christ. Indeed, I have always considered it to be 
a scriptural doctrine, that the work of preaching is 
not so peculiarly confined to ordained ministers, 
but that others also, gifted and fitted by the Holy 
Spirit, and called by the providence of God, may 
publicly, ordinarily, and regularly perform it. " As 
every man hath received the gift, even so minister 
the same one to another, as good stewards of the 
manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him 
speak as the oracles of God ; if any man minister, 
let him do it as of the ability which God giveth." # 
If a man's liberty and sentiments be from God, he 

such is the vast and mighty stride of intellectual greatness in 
Christian morals, that a man who presumes to follow the exam- 
ple of his Divine Master and the humble fishermen of Galilee, 
by expounding the Scripture, even amidst the ruins of a monas- 
tery or convent, not under episcopal jurisdiction, is persecuted, 
not by a Jewish or pagan magistrate, but by conciliatory, cha- 
ritable, and Christian — (or should I not rather say, by arro- 
gant, courtly, and inexorable?) prelates. 

* 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11. 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

has a divine right to make them known to others.* 
However, to satisfy myself fully upon the incon- 
sistency of the conduct of the hierarchy of the 
church, the same month I drew up, and sent the 
annexed letter to the King : — 

To the King's most excellent Majesty. 
Sire, 

I, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal subject, 
Bachelor of Arts, of Queen's College, Cambridge, 
and resident of Bracondale House, in the County of 
Norwich, in accordance with your Majesty's paternal 
regard for the rights and immunities of every indi- 
vidual subject in your Majesty's dominions, approach 
your Majesty, with esteem and filial affection, to 
lay before your Majesty my grievances, and the fla- 
grant motives and infractions of duty with which 
bishops and archbishops sometimes discharge their 
functions. 

The question, Sire, is one in which the religious 
liberties of your Majesty's faithful subjects are 
deeply involved ; and should my case invoke the 
generous sentiments and sympathy of your Ma- 
jesty, or be instrumental in obtaining emancipation 
from arbitrary power, that patriotic spirit of inde- 
pendence, which can appreciate the liberties of my 

* In 1562, an Act was passed, entitled " For Reformation of 
Disorders in the Ministers of the Church," (13 Eliz. cap. 12,) 
in which the Parliament admits of ordination by presbyters, 
without a bishop. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

fellow-countrymen, would not shrink from the 
purchase, though I were to fall the victim to epis- 
copal tyranny. 

In 1821, I came into possession of part of a 
conventual chapel called Davington church, in Kent. 
This chapel had been built partly under the same 
roof with a priory, founded by Faulk, a.d. 1 1 53, for 
twenty-four French nuns,^ to whom, among other 
lands, he gave the manor of Davington, for their 
support and maintenance. f Their whole income 
amounted to no more than 2\l. 13s. lOd. In 
the reign of Edward III. the poverty of the prioress 
and nuns was so great, and though the members 
were reduced to sixteen, they were obliged to pre- 
sent a petition to the king, representing their inca- 
pability of meeting his dues .J The priory after- 
wards became so insignificant, that, in the reign of 
Henry VIII., there was neither prioress nor nuns 
in it, so that it became escheated to the crown. § 

The manor, Sire, was afterwards sold, with all 
its buildings, and has for centuries been in 
possession of laymen. || In 1625, Richard Milles 
w T as permitted to preach in the chapel, by the 
king's letters patent.^ In 1700, the estate fell, for a 
short period, into the hands of a clergyman, named 



* Tan. Mon. p. 215. f Somn. Cant. p. 133. 

X Southouse Mon. p. 147. § Jacob's Hist, of Fav. p. 114. 
|| Rym. Foed. vol. xviii. p. 647. 
*[[ Rot. Esch. ejus. an. pt. 5., also Hastead, pages 130, 661. 



INTRODUCTION. XV11 

Sherwin, who occasionally performed service in 
the remaining part of the chapel. * Religious du- 
ties have since been permitted, at the will and 
pleasure of the owner of the estate, as may be seen 
from a register kept by the late impropriators ; to 
which, in 1822, I affixed my signature as clerk, 
curate, and incumbent. f The chapel has never 
been subject to the control or jurisdiction of any 
Protestant bishop, archdeacon, or other ordinary. J 
For seven years previous to my possession of 
this chapel, no service had been performed in it. 
The building was hastening rapidly to ruins, and 
was used as a workshop, and for the timber and 

* Philpot, p. 180. 

t It is the disposition of some men to confine the sense of & 
word by their own narrow views, to suit their bigoted notions, and 
to answer their interested purpose. It may therefore be necessary, 
from a remark lately made to me, relative to these signatures, 
to direct the attention of those high churchmen, who so bounti- 
fully exercise that " charity which thinketh no evil," to Todd's 
Johnson, for the definition of these terms. If such charitable 
gentlemen choose the authority of a lawyer in preference to a 
lexicographer, they may turn to " Blackstone's Commenta- 
ries," for the term clerk — vol. i. b.i. chap. 11. They will there 
find that the term is not confined to a minister or teacher in 
orders, as their limited minds conceive. The terms were used 
in strict adaptation to their true import, and in conformity to 
my character, as lessee of the property, and as assistant minister 
or curate to the impropriator, to whom the freehold of the 
chapel belonged. 

$ Hastead and Ect. Thes. 

b 



XV111 INTRODUCTION. 

materials of the farm, to which the remaining part 
of the priory is now appropriated. 

I, your Majesty's dutiful subject, called on the 
late Archbishop (Sutton), and informed him of my 
intention to restore the building for divine service; 
and I left the palace, with the impression that I 
should be ordained by his Grace. 

I expended several hundred pounds in repairing 
this church ; but, unhappily, about this time I un- 
intentionally offended his Grace, and the neigh- 
bouring clergy, by successfully advocating the 
cause of the persecuted Queen Caroline. Party 
spirit grew high, and I was peremptorily refused 
ordination, on the ground (as the Archbishop 
said) of the building's not being within the pale of 
the Establishment. I made my case known to 
the Bishop of Norwich, who also refused to ordain 
me on Davington. 

Having spent my property on this building, 
and finding, in Eusebius Pamphilius, that the 
primitive bishops — Alexander, Bishop of Jeru- 
salem, and Theoctystus, Bishop of Caesarea — 
commended Origen for preaching and expound- 
ing in the church, before he was ordained to 
the ministry ;* and as it was a natural con- 
clusion of the mind of your Majesty's faithful 
petitioner, as well as a position of infallible truth, 
that where there is no law there is no transgres- 

* Euseb. b. vi. c. 10. » 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 



9ion, I immediately took the oaths of allegiance, as 
a clerk or teacher, required by the " Toleration 
Act," to qualify myself legally to assist in the re- 
ligious duties of this place. I read parts of Rogers's 
" Lectures on the Church Liturgy," every Sunday 
evening, for a year, to the most crowded and re- 
spectable auditories ever before or since witnessed 
in that neighbourhood ; but, unfortunately, to the 
great envy and annoyance of the surrounding 
clergy. This induced me to desist, and to write to 
the Archbishop, stating, that I was aware how ex- 
tremely easy it was for men to mistake my motives 
and to misrepresent my design ; that I felt sorry 
to give any occasion to let my good be evil spoken 
of ; and as I had desisted from taking any part of 
the duties, and intended to obtain a degree at Cam- 
bridge, I begged to know if, with my degree and 
episcopal ordination, I could re-attend Davington 
church, without incurring his Grace's displeasure. 
The copy of this letter, and his Grace's answer, 
with several honourable testimonials of high re- 
spectability, given me on leaving Kent, are now in 
my possession. 

I beg further humbly to state to your Majesty, 
that on the receipt of this letter I immediately sold 
my interest in the church, but, unfortunately, to 
an unprincipled clergyman, from whom I never 
obtained a shilling. The loss of this property 
obliged me to withdraw my name from the boards 
of my College. I was soon after, in 1824, re- 

b 2 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

spectably introduced to his Grace the Archbishop 
of York, under whose eye I lived till 1827, when 
his Grace recommended me to return to Cam- 
bridge to complete my Terms, and condescended to 
write me the following letter, dated Feb. 13: — 

" Sir, 

1 ' On receiving from you the intelligence 
of your having taken your degree at Cambridge, I 
shall have great pleasure in endeavouring to ob- 
tain for you a nomination to a curacy in this 
diocese. 

" I am, Sir, 
" Your obedient humble servant, 

" E. EBOR. 
" To James Abbott, Esq. 
" Sneaton Hall." 

I, your Majesty's petitioner, was received back 
to my old college, and the Head Tutor (Mr. King), 
to whom the whole affair of my former connexion 
with Davington was known, in a letter, dated 
February 13th, 1827, to Colonel Wilson, late 
Member for York, writes — " I think it but just 
to Mr. Abbott to observe, that his conduct in col- 
lege, during 1822 and 1823, was highly proper and 
decorous ; and that I always considered the conduct 
of his enemies, in pursuing him and hunting him 
down, as harsh and uncalled for." 

I obtained my degree last year, and have sent to 



INTRODUCTION. XXI 

the Bishop of Norwich my college testimonials, 
with all papers required of candidates for holy- 
orders. Without troubling your Majesty with a 
detail of circumstances, as vexatious as unjust, 
which I have experienced ; it is with unfeigned 
sorrow that necessity obliges me to inform your 
Majesty that the late Archbishop, ten years ago, 
sent to the several bishops, without informing me, 
cautioning them not to ordain me without refer- 
ence to himself. This reference is now impossible, 
his Grace being dead. The Bishop of Norwich 
states, that he cannot ordain me unless the present 
Archbishop of his diocese removes this caution or 
caveat, which his Grace does not appear willing to 
do, without the authority of your Majesty. 

I, therefore, earnestly invoke your Majesty, as 
head of the church, and father of your people, 
graciously to consider my prayer, to remove this 
hindrance to my obtaining episcopal ordination ; 
in order that your Majesty's Royal prerogative 
may secure to me the privileges and rights of 
a denizen and of a British graduate. 

Sire, 

I have the honour, with dutiful respect, 
to subscribe myself, 

Your Majesty's 
Obedient, faithful, and loyal Petitioner, 

JAMES ABBOTT. 

Bracondale House, Norwich, 
November 27th, 1830. 



XX11 INTRODUCTION. 

The following is Lord Melbourne's reply : — 

" Whitehall, 29th December, 1830. 

" Sir, 

" I am directed by Lord Melbourne to 

acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th 

instant, and to inform you that his Lordship 

cannot advise the King to give any command for 

controlling the judgment of a bishop on the 

subject of ordination to holy orders. 

" I am, Sir, 
" Your obedient humble Servant, 

" S. M. PHILLIPS. 

" James Abbott, Esq. 

" Bracondale House, Norwich." 

Before I make any remark on this letter, I will 
give the substance of the Act of Supremacy, with a 
few quotations from Judge Blackstone : — 

26 Henry VIII. cap. 1. 

" Albeit, the king's Majesty justly and rightly 
is, and ought to be, supreme head of the Church 
of England, and is so recognised by the clergy of 
this realm ; yet, nevertheless, for conformation and 
corroboration thereof, and increase of virtue in 
Christ's religion within this realm of England, &c. 
be it enacted by the authority of this present 
parliament, that the King, our Sovereign Lord, his 
heirs and successors, kings of this realm, shall be 
taken, accepted, and reputed, the only supreme head, on 



INTRODUCTION. XX111 

earth, of the Church of England, and shall have and 
enjoy annexed and united to the imperial crown of 
this realm, as well as the title and style thereof, as 
all honours, dignities, immunities, profits, and 
commodities, to the said dignity of supreme head of 
the said church belonging and appertaining ; and 
that our Sovereign Lord, his heirs and successors, 
kings of this realm, shall have full power and authority 
to visit, repress, redress, reform, order, correct, 
restrain, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, 
contempts, and enormities whatsoever they be, which, by 
any manner of spiritual authority or jurisdiction, 
ought or may be lawfully reformed, repressed, 
ordered, redressed, corrected, restrained, or amend- 
ed, most to the pleasure of Almighty God, and 
increase of virtue in Christ's religion, and for the 
convention of peace, unity, and tranquillity of this 
realm, any usage, custom, foreign law, foreign 
authority, presumption, or any thing or things 
to the contrary notwithstanding."* 

Now, what am I to understand by this Act ? 
That the king is not supreme head of the Church of 

* Though papists repudiate the oath of supremacy, as in- 
consistent with their allegiance to the pope, every loyal 
protestant may conscientiously take it, with the explication, that 
no more is intended than that his Majesty, under God, has the 
sovereignty and rule over all persons born in his dominions, 
either ecclesiastical or temporal, so as no foreign power has, or 
ought to have, any superiority over them. In this sense, and 
no other, I willingly take it. 



XXIV INTRODUCTION. 

England; that he has not power and authority to 
visit, repress, and redress errors ; that it is not his 
duty to order, correct, restrain, and amend all abuses, 
contempts, and enormities whatsoever? It would 
seem that this is Lord Melbourne's view of it. — 
Let us see what opinion Judge Blackstone enter- 
tains on this matter : — 

" The king is," he says, " considered by the laws 
of England, as the head and supreme governor of 
the national church. To enter into the reasons 
upon which this prerogative is founded, is matter 
rather of divinity than of law. I shall, therefore, 
only observe, that, by statute 26 Hen. VIII. c. 1. it 
is enacted, that the king shall be reputed the only 
supreme head, on earth, of the Church of England, 
and shall have annexed to the imperial crown of 
this realm, as well as the title and style thereof, 
as all jurisdictions, authorities, and commodities, 
to the said dignity of supreme head of the church 
appertaining. And another statute of the same 
purport was made, 1 Eliz. c. 1. 

11 In virtue of this authority, the king convenes, 
prorogues, restrains, regulates, and dissolves all 
ecclesiastical synods or convocations. 

" From this prerogative also, of being head of the 
church, arises the king's right of nomination to 
vacant bishoprics, and certain other ecclesiastical 
preferments. 

" As head of the church, the king is likewise 
the dernier resort in all ecclesiastical causes ; an 



INTRODUCTION. XXV 

appeal lying ultimately to him in Chancery from 
the sentence of every ecclesiastical judge."* 

What will Lord Melbourne say to this ? 

Let us further see what the learned lawyer says 
on the duty of a king : — 

" The principal duty of a king," says the judge, 
11 is to govern his people according to law. Nee 
regibus infinita out libera potestas, was the con- 
stitution of our German ancestors on the con- 
tinent.! And this is not only consonant to the 
principles of nature, of liberty, of reason, and 
of society; but has always been esteemed an 
express part of the common law of England. 

" The king of England must rule his people 
according to the decrees of the laws thereof. But, 
to obviate all doubts and difficulties concerning this 
matter, it is expressly declared by statute 12 and 13 
Wil. III. c. 2. ' that the laws of England are the 
birthright of the people thereof ; and all the kings 
and queens, who shall ascend the throne of this 
realm, ought to administer the government of the 
same according to the said laws ; and all their officers 
and ministers [mark this, Lord Melbourne,] ought to 
sei~ve them respectively , according to the same : and 
therefore all the laws and statutes of this realm, for 
securing the established religion, and the rights and 
liberties of the people thereof, and all other laws and 
statutes of the same now in force, are ratified and 
confirmed accordingly.' ' 

* Blackstone, vol. i. b. i.-c. 7. f Tac. de mor. Germ. c. 7. 



XXVI INTRODUCTION. 

A question asked of the king by the bishop, 
in administering the coronation oath, is — <£ Will 
you, to your power, cause law and justice, in 
mercy, to be executed in all your judgments ?" 
The king answers — " I will ; so help me, God." # 

Again, Blackstone tells us — " Justice is not 
derived from the king, as from his free gift ; but 
he is the steward of the public, to dispense it to 
whom it is due. He is not the spring, but the 
reservoir, from whence right and equity are con- 
ducted, by a thousand channels, to every individual. 
The original power of judicature by the funda- 
mental principles of society, is lodged in the 
society at large ; but as it would be impracticable 
to render complete justice to every individual 
by the people in their collective capacity, therefore 
every nation has committed that power to certain 
select magistrates, who, with more ease and ex- 
pedition, can hear and determine complaints : and 
in England, this authority has immemorially been 
exercised by the king, or his substitutes. "f 

I now ask any man of common sense, who is not 
wholly destitute of a feeling of respect for the laws 
of his country, if the responsible situation of 
Secretary of State ought to be filled by a man so 
indifferent to his duty, or ignorant of those laws and 
institutions which justice demands him to execute 
and observe, as Lord Melbourne has shewn him- 

* Blackstone, vol. i. b. i. c. 6. 
f Blackstone, vol. i. b. i. c. 7. 



INTRODUCTION. XXV11 

self to be in his conduct towards me ? How am 
I to reconcile the treatment I have experienced 
with the principles of candour and rectitude ? I 
sent a petition for Lord Melbourne, as Secretary of 
State, to present to his Majesty. It is required 
of his Lordship, as a servant of the King and 
people, to execute with fidelity the duties of his 
office. My request was for a legal right; it was to 
remove a grievance, and to reform an abuse, 
which could not be effected in any other way, 
without entering into a ruinous Court of Chan- 
cery. 

Lord Melbourne, I have reason to believe, did 
not present my petition to his Majesty ; nor did 
he condescend to answer me, till after a month 
had elapsed, when I sent him a second letter on 
the subject. To this the note above given, dated 
Whitehall, is his Lordship's reply. 

Justice, liberty, and happiness, are the charters 
of God and nature, which no mortal, however 
elevated by conquest or inheritance, can annul or 
violate without impiety. Every king, and every 
minister, therefore, who will not advance the 
national right of every individual subject to their 
control, is a despot. 

"Not even the high -anointed hand of Heaven 
Can authorize oppression, give a law 
For lawless power, wed faith to violation, 
On reason build misrule, or justly bind 
Allegiance to injustice." 



XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 

I now leave Lord Melbourne, and his character, to 
my readers. # I consider the affair as closed, and 
shall give myself no further trouble in a matter so 
indifferent to the interests of the Church of Christ. 
So far, I have done what I considered to be my duty, 
and feel relieved from the shackles in which I have 
been long held. It appears to be the will of God 
that I should no longer be ensnared, with a vain 
desire to submit to the government of the Church of 
England, till her discipline shall be amended by the 
legislature, or be united and bound to an authority 
founded in popery and spiritual slavery ; but that 
I should at once come forward as the advocate of 
spiritual emancipation, freed from the spirit of 
temporizing, which so powerfully possessed many 
of the bishops in the reign of Edward VI., that 
after having complied with the impositions of 

* Since writing the above, I find that a petition has been 
sent to the King, by Mr. Arnold, a speculator in theatrical 
property, on the right of the patent theatres ; which the Lord 
Chancellor of England deemed to be of sufficient import- 
ance to demand more than ordinary consideration. It ap- 
peared also to his Majesty, that genius and taste, intellectual 
improvement, and, above all, morality, might be benefited or 
injured by the result of the inquiry. His Majesty was, 
therefore, graciously pleased to permit the discussion to be 
carried on in public, to the end that more satisfaction might 
be afforded to all who had an interest in the question. 
This fact, of a private individual petitioning the King, 
in support of the stage, is of too glaring a nature to need 
comment ! 



INTRODUCTION. XXIX 

Henry VIII., they were desirous of bringing others 
under the same yoke, and of keeping up an alliance 
with the Church of Rome, lest they should lose 
the uninterrupted succession of their office from 
the apostles. 

Having lately had some leisure hours, I resolved 
to examine, more minutely than I had hitherto 
done, the ground on which the authority of bishops 
rested. I felt that whatever might be urged by 
them, in support of their dogmas and usurpation, 
it was certain that the great and eternal laws of 
truth and justice could not be violated with im- 
punity. The violation may answer some sordid and 
temporary purpose, but in the end it must prove 
injurious, if not fatal, to those who are guilty of it. 

In the prosecution of my object, I have ex- 
amined Eusebius, Socrates, Evigarius, and the 
writings of several of the Fathers and reformers 
of the Church. I have also consulted Hooker's 
Ecclesiastical Polity, Strype's Annals, Neal's Pu- 
ritans, Pierce's Vindication, Burnett's History of 
the Reformation, Clarendon's History, Fuller's 
Worthies, Mosheim and Collyer's Ecclesiastical 
Histories, Clark and Fox's Martyrs, Rapin, Hume, 
Gibbon, and Blackstone's Commentaries j as well as 
Le Clerk, Usher, Selden, and Robinson, and others 
of less note. From various books I have taken 
whatever subjects suited my purpose, and from the 
above-mentioned writers I have frequently borrowed 
with advantage. Whenever I have found their 



XXX INTRODUCTION. 

sentiments express my own ideas more clearly 
than my ability could represent them, I have 
made use of their language in preference to my 
own. Indeed, the reader may look upon the work 
as a compilation from others, rather than as a new 
work emanating from me. 

I have first endeavoured to prove the origin and 
gradual advance of papal tyranny in England ; and 
then shewn that in the early ages of the Christian 
Church, there were only bishops or presbyters, and 
deacons ; that bishops and presbyters, in the primi- 
tive Church; were synonymous, or of one degree ; 
that there were many bishops in one town ; that 
no bishop's authority extended beyond one city ; 
that the bishops could ordain no minister, without 
the consent of the presbyters and Church ; that 
they could confirm no children, but in their own 
parish ; that they possessed but one living each, 
and served the cure ; and that they dealt in no 
civil government by any established authority. # 
I have also shewn the unscriptural power of 
English bishops, that they have no authority on 
which to establish their power in the Church ; 
and that archdeacons, deans, and other officials 
are antichristian dignitaries. I have given the 
history of fast days, and the history of tithes, with 
a comparative view of the wealth consumed by the 
clergy. I have shewn the innovations made onChris- 

* See Collyer's Church History, p. 543. 



INTRODUCTION. XXXI 

tian doctrines and discipline, and that the Church 
has no right, founded on the authority of Christ, 
or his apostles, to impose rites or ceremonies 
on the conscience of any man ; and that the rites 
and ceremonies of the Church of England are the 
remnants of popery and the filaments of antichrist. 
I have closed, with a scheme for the reduction of 
episcopacy, and the plan for a reformed Church. In 
doing this, I have followed the dictates of my own 
judgment and conscience. The principle of duty 
is the highest law in the soul, and he who invades 
this freedom in man, aims the deadliest blow at 
his honour and happiness. 

My anxious desire is, to use my humble en- 
deavours to promote the cause of Christ, and to 
defend, to the best of my ability, the simplicity of 
that gospel, which He himself came to establish. 
With this view, I have assembled a church in Lon- 
don, called the Reformed English Church, and 
intend, with the assistance of Divine Providence, 
to support the pure doctrines of Christ. 

I am fully aware that my conduct will give 
offence to those who are possessed of power and 
patronage ; but I am ready to bear patiently the 
proud man's contumely, and the censure of the 
sycophant, whose preferment depends on the pros- 
titution of knowledge and conscience. During the 
short period of my sojournwith my fellow-creatures, 
I will continue, by the Divine assistance, to strike at 
the bonds of slavish despotism, without paying court 



XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 

to any individual or party. My efforts may appear 
trifling and inconsiderable to the eye of clerical 
pride ; but be it remembered, that if what appears 
little be despised, nothing great can be obtained. 
All that is great was at first little, and rose to its 
present bulk by gradual accessions and accumu- 
lated labours. 

With these remarks, I leave the following pages 
to my reader. Having been drawn up amidst my fa- 
mily and professional duties, as a tutor, I do not pre- 
sume that they will obtain the approbation of all who 
may peruse them ; for, to conclude in the words of 
Dr. Johnson, he that has much to do, will do 
something wrong, and of that wrong must suffer the 
consequences. If it were possible that he should 
always act rightly, yet, when such numbers are 
to judge of his conduct, the bad will censure and ob- 
struct him by malevolence ; and the good, some- 
times, by mistake. 



HISTORY 

OF THE 

CHURCH HIERARCHY, 

&c. 



CHAP. I. 



THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE OF PAPAL TYRANNY 
IN ENGLAND. 

It will be admitted, that all power, superiority, 
and distinction in society, must be derived, either 
from the positive institutions of God, or from the 
mutual agreement of men ; whoever, therefore, 
exercises any authority over others, their goods, or 
possessions, must support his pretension by such 
proof as the nature of the claim requires ; and such 
proof should be examined with the utmost jealousy, 
when the claims have reference to the spiritual and 
eternal happiness of mankind. 

It is a severe circumstance which attends those 
who oppose received opinions, that they must not 
only contend against popular prejudices and 
notions long cherished, and against the interests 
and passions of great numbers of artful and com- 
bining men, but also against the weight and 
force of public authority. The labouring oar, too, 



2 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 

will always lie upon them. They must disprove 
what has no proof to support it, and bring argu- 
ment upon argument, to maintain propositions 
which are really self-evident. A bare idea of the 
possibility that they may be mistaken, will be 
deemed equal to a full conviction that they are so ; 
and sometimes the clearest demonstration of their 
case, will be called only carnal and human reason- 
ing, not to be used about spiritual things. Even 
when the irrefragable strength of their reasoning 
forces consent, they will have no thanks for their 
pains ; but will be often esteemed officious and 
factious, and be said to disturb points already 
settled, if, by chance, they should escape the 
censure of promoting the cause of infidelity. 

However, be the consequences what they may, 
the claims in the popish and popishly-affected 
clergy are so enormous, the consequences of them 
so fatal to real Christianity, and the arguments 
pretended to be brought from reason and authority 
for their support, so weak and contemptible, the 
whole design and current of the gospel being 
directly against them, that I shall do my utmost 
totally to demolish the tottering building of anti- 
christ, and also to shew, that it has no foundation in 
common sense, or in the scriptures of divine truth. 

It has been justly observed by Blackstone, that 
religious principles, which, when genuine and pure, 
have an evident tendency to make their professors 
better citizens, as well as better men, have, when 



OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 6 

become perverted and erroneous, been usually sub- 
versive of civil government, and been made both 
the cloak and the instrument of every pernicious 
design that can be harboured in the heart of man. 
The unbounded authority that was exercised by the 
Druids in the west, under the influence of pagan 
superstition, and the terrible ravages committed by 
the Saracens in the east, to propagate the religion 
of Mahomet, both witness to the truth of that 
ancient universal observation, that in all ages, and 
in all countries, civil and ecclesiastical tyranny are 
mutually productive of each other. It is the glory 
of the true church of Christ, that she inculcates due 
obedience to lawful authority, and is, in her prin- 
ciples and practice, unquestionably loyal, in com- 
pliance with the divine command, "submit your- 
selves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
sake ; whether it be to the king, as supreme, or 
unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him 
for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise 
of them that do well. For so is the will of God, 
that with well-doing ye may put to silence the 
ignorance of foolish men ; as free, and not using 
your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as 
the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the 
brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King." 

The faithful ministers of Christ, holy in their doc- 
trines, and aiming to keep a conscience void of 
offence, are also moderate in their ambition, and 
entertain just notions of the ties of society, and 

b 2 



4 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 

of the rights of civil government. As in matters of 
faith and morality, so in matters of church dis- 
cipline and church government, they acknowledge 
no guide to have authority over their consciences, 
but the scriptures ; though some acknowledge that 
the king may make laws, for the good ordaining 
of the churches within his dominions, and that 
the churches ought not to be disobedient, unless 
they find such laws contrary to the word of 
God ; and even in such cases, they are not to 
resist, but peaceably to refuse obedience, and sub- 
mit to the punishment, if mercy cannot be ob- 
tained. 

The horrid devastations arising from fanaticism, in 
the various ages of the world, the effects of which 
have been mere madness, or of zeal that was nearly 
allied to it, though violent and tumultuous, were 
but of a short duration ; whereas the progress of 
the papal policy, long actuated by the steady 
counsels of successive pontiffs, took deeper root, 
and was at length, in some places with difficulty, 
in others never yet extirpated. For the truth of 
this, we might refer to the black intrigues of the 
Jesuits, formerly triumphant over Christendom, but 
since universally abandoned, even by the Roman 
Catholic powers themselves : but the subject of 
the present chapter is, to consider the vast strides 
which were formerly made in this kingdom by the 
popish clergy ; how nearly they arrived to effect 
their grand design ; some few of the means they 



OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 5 

made use of for establishing their plan; and how 
almost all of these have been defeated, or converted 
to better purposes, by the vigour and wisdom of 
our ancestors. 

The ancient British church, by whomsoever 
planted, was a stranger to the bishop of Rome, 
and all his pretended authority. The pagan Saxon 
invaders having driven the professors of Chris- 
tianity to the remotest corners of our island, their 
own conversion was afterwards effected by Au- 
gustin, the monk, and other missionaries from the 
court of Rome. This naturally introduced some 
few of the papal corruptions, in point of faith and 
doctrine ; but we read of no civil authority claimed 
by the pope in these kingdoms, till the era of the 
Norman conquest ; when the then reigning pon- 
tiff, having favoured Duke William in his projected 
invasion, by blessing his host, and consecrating 
his banners, he took that opportunity also of 
establishing his spiritual encroachments ; and was 
even permitted to do so, by the policy of the con- 
queror, in order more effectually to humble the 
Saxon clergy, and aggrandize his Norman prelates , 
who, being bred abroad in the doctrine and practice 
of slavery, had contracted a reverence and regard 
for it, and took a pleasure in rivetting the chains 
of a free-born people. 

The most stable foundation of legal and rational 
government, is a due subordination of rank, and 
a gradual scale of authority ; and though tyranny 



6 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 

itself is most surely supported by a regular gradation 
of despotism, rising from the slave to the sultan, 
yet, however, with this difference, that the measure 
of obedience in the one, is grounded on the prin- 
ciples of society, and is extended no further than 
reason and necessity will warrant ; in the other it 
is limited, only by absolute will and pleasure of 
the reigning monarch, without permitting the 
inferior to examine the title upon which it is 
founded. To enslave the consciences and minds 
of the people the more effectually, the Roman 
clergy themselves paid the most implicit obedience 
to their own superiors or prelates ; and they, in 
their turns, were as blindly devoted to the will of 
the sovereign pontiff, whose decisions they held 
to be infallible, and his authority co-extensive with 
the Christian world. Hence his legates a latere 
were introduced into every kingdom of Europe; 
his bulls and decretal epistles became the rule both 
of faith and discipline ; his judgment was the final 
resort in all cases of doubt or difficulty ; his de- 
crees were enforced by anathemas and spiritual 
censures ; he dethroned even kings that were 
refractory, and denied to whole kingdoms, when 
undutiful, the exercise of Christian ordinances, and 
the benefits of the gospel of Christ. 

But though his being spiritual head of the 
church was a thing of great sound, and of greater 
authority, among men of conscience and piety, 
yet the court of Rome was fully apprised that, 



OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. / 

among the bulk of mankind, power cannot be 
maintained without property ; therefore its at- 
tention began very early to be rivetted upon every 
method that promised pecuniary advantage. The 
doctrine of purgatory was introduced, and with it 
the purchase of masses to redeem the souls of the 
deceased. New-fangled offences were created, and 
indulgences were sold to the wealthy for liberty to 
sin without danger. The canon law took cognizance 
of crimes, enjoined penance pro salute animce, and 
commuted that penance for money. Non-residence 
and pluralities among the clergy, and marriages 
among the laity related within the seventh degree, 
were strictly prohibited by canon ; but dispen- 
sations were seldom denied to those who could 
afford to buy them. In short, all the wealth of 
Christendom was gradually drained, by a thousand 
channels, into the coffers of the holy see. 

The establishment also of the feudal system in 
most of the governments of Europe, whereby the 
lands of all private proprietors were declared to be 
holden of the prince, gave a hint to the Court of 
Rome for usurping a similar authority over all the 
preferments of the church. This began first in 
Italy, and gradually spread itself to England. The 
pope became a feudal lord, and all ordinary patrons 
were to hold their right of patronage under this 
universal superior. Estates held by feudal tenure, 
being originally gratuitous donations, were at that 
time denominated beneficia ; their very name, as 



8 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 

well as constitution, was borrowed, and the care 
of the souls of a parish thence came to be denomi- 
nated, a Benefice. Lay fees were conferred by in- 
vestiture or delivery of corporal possession, and 
spiritual benefices, which at first were universally 
donative, now received, in like manner, a spiritual 
investiture by institution from the bishop, and in- 
duction under his authority. As lands escheated 
to the lord in defect of a legal tenant, so benefices 
lapsed to the bishop upon non-presentation by the 
patron, in the nature of a spiritual escheat. The 
annual tenths collected from the clergy were equi- 
valent to the feudal render or rent reserved upon a 
grant ; the oath of canonical obedience was copied 
from the oath of fealty, required from the vassal 
to his superior ; and the primer seisins of our mili- 
tary tenures, whereby the first profits of an heir's 
estate were cruelly extorted by his lord, gave birth 
to as cruel an exaction of first-fruits from the 
beneficed clergy. The occasional aids and tal- 
lages levied by the prince on his vassals, gave a 
handle to the pope to levy, by the means of his 
legates a latere, Peter-pence and other exactions. 

At length the holy father went a step beyond 
any example of either emperor or feudal lord. He 
reserved to himself, by his own apostolical autho- 
rity, 1 * the presentation to all benefices which became 
vacant while the incumbent was attending the 
Court of Rome, upon any occasion, either on his 
* Extrav. 1- 3. t. 2. c. 13. 



OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. V 

journey thither, or on his way back ; and further, 
such also as became vacant by his promotion to a 
bishopric or abbey : etiamsi ad ilia persona consue- 
verint et debuerint per electionem aut quemvis alium 
modum assumi. And this last, the canonists declared 
was no detriment at all to the patron, being only 
like the change of a life, in a feudal estate by the 
lord. Dispensations, to avoid these vacancies, 
begat the doctrine of commendams ; and papal pro- 
visions were the previous nomination to such 
benefices, by a kind of anticipation, before they 
became actually void ; though afterwards indiscri- * 
minately applied to any right of patronage exerted 
or usurped by the pope. In consequence of this, 
the best livings were filled by Italian and other 
foreign clergy, equally unskilled and adverse to 
the laws and constitution of England. The very 
nomination to bishoprics, which was considered a 
prerogative of the crown, was wrested from King 
Henry I., and afterwards from his successor King 
John, and seemingly, indeed, conferred on the 
chapters belonging to each see ; but, by means of 
the frequent appeals to Rome, through the intri- 
cacy of the laws which regulated canonical elec- 
tions, was eventually vested in the pope. To sum 
up this head with a transaction most unparalleled 
and astonishing in its kind, Pope Innocent III. had, 
at length, the effrontery to demand, and King John 
had the meanness to consent to a resignation of his 
crown to the pope, by which England was to 



10 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE 

become, for ever, the patrimony of St. Peter ; and 
the dastardly monarch re-accepted his sceptre from 
the hands of the papal legate, to hold, as the vassal 
of the holy see, at the annual rent of a thousand 
marks. 

Another engine set on foot, or, at least, greatly 
improved by the Court of Rome, was a master- 
piece of papal policy. Not content with the ample 
provision of tithes which the law of the land had 
given to the parochial clergy, they endeavoured to 
grasp at the lands and inheritances of the kingdom, 
and, had not the legislature withstood them, they 
would, by this time, have probably been masters of 
every foot of ground in the kingdom. To this end 
they introduced the monks of the Benedictine and 
other orders, men of sour and austere religion, se- 
parated from the world and its concerns by a vow of 
perpetual celibacy ; yet fascinating the minds of the 
people by pretences to extraordinary sanctity, while 
their whole aim was to aggrandize the power and 
extend the influence of their grand superior the 
Pope. As in those times of civil tumult great 
rapines and violence were daily committed by over- 
grown lords and their adherents, the people were 
taught to believe, that founding a monastery a little 
before their deaths would atone for a life of incon- 
tinence, disorder, and bloodshed. Hence innumer- 
able abbeys and religious houses were built within 
a century after the conquest, and endowed, not 
only with the tithes of parishes, which were extorted 



OF PAPAL TYRANNY IN ENGLAND. 11 

from the secular clergy, but also with lands, 
manors, lordships, and extensive baronies. The 
doctrine inculcated was, that whatever was so given 
to the monks and friars, or purchased by them, was 
consecrated to God himself, and that to alienate or 
take it away was no less than the sin of sacrilege. 

Had I time, I might here have enlarged upon 
other contrivances, which will occur to the recol- 
lection of the reader, set on foot by the Court of 
Rome, for effecting an entire exemption of its 
clergy from any intercourse with the civil* magis- 
trate ; such as the separation of the ecclesiastical 
court from the temporal ; the appointment of its 
judges by merely spiritual authority, without any 
interposition from the crown ; the exclusive juris- 
diction it claimed over all ecclesiastical persons and 
causes ; and the privilegium clericale, or benefit of 
clergy, which delivered all episcopally ordained 
clerks from any trial or punishment except before 
their own tribunal. But I shall only observe, at 
present, that notwithstanding this plan of pontifi- 
cal power was so deeply laid, and so indefatigably 
pursued by the unwearied politics of the Court of 
Rome through a long succession of ages ; notwith- 
standing it was polished and improved by the 
united endeavours of a body of men, who engrossed 
all the learning of Europe for centuries together ; 
notwithstanding it was firmly and resolutely exe- 
cuted by persons the best calculated for establish- 
ing tyranny and despotism, being unconnected 



12 THE ORIGIN AND GRADUAL ADVANCE &C. 

with their fellow-subjects, and totally indifferent 
to what might befal that posterity to which they 
bore no endearing relation, and being fired with a 
bigoted enthusiasm, which prevailed, not only 
among the weak and simple, but even among those 
of the best natural and acquired endowments ; yet it 
vanished into nothing when the eyes of the people 
were a little enlightened, and they set themselves 
with vigour to oppose it. So vain and ridiculous is 
the attempt to live in society without acknowledg- 
ing the obligations which it lays us under, and to 
affect an entire independence of that civil state 
which protects us in all our rights, when the laws 
are properly and duly administered. 



13 



CHAP. II. 



THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 

Bishops or Presbyters, are two appellations which 
originally designated the same office and the same 
order of persons. The one appellation may have 
denoted their inspection over the faith and manners 
of the Christians who were committed to their pas- 
toral care ; the other may have indicated their 
age, or rather have been expressive of their expe- 
rience and wisdom. 

Clemens Alexandrinus informs us, that James, 
the brother of Christ, was, after the ascension, chosen 
bishop of Jerusalem, by the apostles, Peter, James, 
and John ; and Eusebius tells us, that Peter was 
first seven years bishop of Antioch, and that seven 
other years he remained about Jerusalem and the 
eastern region, and became bishop of Rome, a.d. 44. 
and continued there twenty-five years. We also 
read in the introduction of the Apocalypse, that 
bishops, in St. John's time, were instituted under 
the title of angels, in the seven cities of Asia ; and 
we know, that since the time of Tertullian, who 



14 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

flourished at the beginning of the third century, 
nulla ecclesia sine episcopo, has been a fact, as well 
as a maxim. 

Without entering into the various causes which, 
at first, might have induced the Christians to ap- 
point from among their presbyters an ecclesiastical 
governor, it is certain, that the lofty title of bishop 
soon began, in some churches, to raise itself above 
the humble appellation of presbyter; notwithstand- 
ing that the latter was considered to be the most 
natural distinction, the former was appropriated to 
the dignity of the president, who continued for 
some ages to perform the duties of his first im- 
posed functions. 

It is certain, that the pious and humble presby- 
ters, who were first dignified with the episcopal 
title, could not possess, and would have rejected 
the power and pomp which now encircles the tiara 
of the Roman pontiff, or the mitre of an English 
prelate. The original jurisdiction of bishops con- 
sisted in the pastoral duties and discipline of the 
church, in the superintendencyof ecclesiastical affairs 
generally, in the appointment of ministers, and the 
determination of all such differences as the faithful 
were unwilling to expose before the tribunal of an 
idolatrous judge. Their powers were exercised 
with the advice and consent of the assembly of 
Christians. They were considered only as the first 
of their equals, and the honourable servants of a 
free people. 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 15 

Such was the simplicity of the primitive consti- 
tution of the church, by which Christians were go- 
verned more than a hundred years after the death 
of the apostles. Every society formed within itself 
a separate and independent church, and although 
the most distant of these maintained a mutual, as 
well as friendly intercourse, by letters and deputa- 
tions, the Christian world was not yet connected by 
any supreme or legislative assembly. As the num- 
ber of the faithful increased, they thought they dis- 
covered the advantages which might result from a 
closer union of their interests. 

We find that towards the close of the second 
century, the churches of Greece and Asia adopted 
the institution of provincial synods, and it was 
soon established as a custom, that the bishops of 
the independent churches should meet in the capi- 
tal of the province, at the stated periods of spring 
and autumn. Their deliberations were assisted by 
the advice of the distinguished presbyters, and 
moderated by the presence of a listening multitude. 
Their decrees, which were styled canons, regulated 
every important point of faith and discipline. The 
institution of synods was so well regulated for pri- 
vate ambition and for public interest, that in the 
space of a few years it was received throughout 
the whole empire. A regular correspondence was 
established between the provincial councils, which 
naturally communicated their respective proceed- 
ings, and the catholic church soon assumed a form 



16 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

and acquired the strength of a great federative re- 
public.* 

The legislative authority of the particular churches 
was insensibly superseded by the use of councils j 
and many of the bishops having thrown off their 
primitive simplicity for secular authority, obtained 
by their alliance a much greater share of executive 
and arbitrary power. Thus, being connected with 
a view to their worldly interest, they were enabled 
to attack, with united vigour, the original rights 
of the presbyters and people. It is evident that 
the prelates of the third century imperceptibly 
changed the language of exhortation into that of 
command, scattered the seeds of future usurpa- 
tions, and supplied by scripture allegories and de- 
clamatory rhetoric, their deficiency of force and of 
reason. Many bishops had now taken upon them- 
selves the exclusive privilege of conferring the sa- 
cerdotal character, and thus invaded the freedom 
both of presbyterian and popular elections ; but in 
the administration of the church, they still consulted 
the judgment of the presbyters or the wishes of 
the people, taking care, however, to inculcate the 
merit of such a voluntary condescension. 

Though the bishop still acknowledged the su- 



* See Tertullian de Jejunii. chap. 13, where the African 
mentions it as a recent and foreign institution. The coalition 
of the Christian churches is very ably explained by Mosheim, 
p. 164—170. 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 17 

preme authority which resided in the assembly of 
their brethren, yet in the government of his pecu- 
liar diocese, each of them exacted from his flock 
the same implicit obedience, as if the favourite 
metaphor had been literally applicable to himself, 
and as if the shepherd had been of a more exalted 
nature than his sheep. This obedience is proved 
from the whole tenor of Cyprian's conduct, of his 
doctrine, and of his epistles ;* it was not imposed, 
however, without some efforts on one side, and 
some resistance on the other. The usurped power 
of the bishops was in many places very zealously 
opposed by the presbyters, but their Christian spi- 
rit and patriotism received the ignominious epithets 
of faction and schism ; and the episcopal cause 
was indebted for its rapid progress to the labours 
of many active prelates, who, like Cyprian and the 
bishops of our day, could reconcile the arts of the 
most ambitious statesman with the Christian vir- 
tues adapted only to the character of the faithful 
minister of Christ, 

The equality of the presbyters and bishops being 
destroyed, the same causes which effected this, intro- 
duced among the latter a pre-eminence of rank, and 
thence a superiority of jurisdiction. As often as, in 
the spring and autumn^ they met in provincial synod, 
the differences of personal merit and reputation 

* Le Clerc, in a short Life of Cyprian, Bibliotheque Univer- 
selle, torn. xii. p. 207 — 378, has laid him open with great free* 
dom and accuracy. 

C 



18 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

were very sensibly felt among the members of the 
assembly, and the multitude was governed by the 
wisdom and eloquence of the few. The office of 
perpetual president in the councils of each pro- 
vince was conferred on the bishop of the principal 
city ; and these aspiring prelates, who soon acquired 
the lofty titles of metropolitans and primates, 
secretly prepared themselves to usurp over their 
episcopal brethren, the same authority which the 
bishops had so lately assumed above the presbyters.* 

It was not long before an emulation of pre- 
eminence and power prevailed among the metropo- 
litans themselves, each of them affecting to display, 
in the most pompous terms, the temporal honours 
and advantages of the city over which he presided, 
the numbers and opulence of the Christians who 
were subject to his pastoral care, the saints and 
martyrs who had arisen among them, and the pu- 
rity (in good faith) with which they preserved the 
tradition of doctrine and discipline, as transmitted 
through a series of orthodox bishops, from the 
apostle, or the apostolic discipline, to whom the 
foundation of their church was ascribed. 

It was now easy to foresee that Rome would 
soon claim the obedience of the provinces. The 
society of Christians bore a just proportion to the 
capital of the empire, and the Roman church was 
the greatest, the most numerous, and in regard to 
the west, the most ancient of all the Christian esta- 

* See Dupin Antiquse Eccles. Disciplin. p. ]0, 20. 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 19 

blishments, many of which had received their reli- 
gion from the labours of her missionaries. Instead 
of one apostolic founder, which was the utmost boast 
of Antioch, of Ephesus, or of Corinth, the banks of 
the Tiber were supposed to have been honoured 
with the preaching and martyrdom of the two most 
eminent among the apostles, and the bishops of 
Rome claimed the inheritance of whatever preroga- 
tive was attributed either to the person or office of 
St. Peter. The bishops of Italy and of the pro- 
vinces were disposed to allow them a primacy of 
order and association, for such was their very accu- 
rate expression, in the Christian aristocracy. But 
the power of a monarch was rejected by them with 
abhorrence, and the aspiring genius of Rome expe- 
rienced from the nations of Asia and Africa a more 
vigorous resistance to her spiritual, than she had 
formerly done to her temporal dominion. Cyprian, 
who ruled with the most absolute sway the church 
of Carthage and the provincial synods, opposed with 
resolution and success the ambition of the Roman 
pontiff; and connecting his own cause with that 
of the eastern bishops, sought out new allies in the 
heart of Asia.* If this war was carried on with- 
out any effusion of blood, it was owing much less 
to the moderation than to the weakness of the con- 
tending prelates. Invectives and excommunications 
were indeed their only weapons ; but these, during 

* See the sharp epistle from Firmilianus, bishop of Ctesarea, 
to Stephen, bishop of Rome, ap. Cyprian. Epistol. 75. 

c 2 



20 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

the progress of the whole controversy, they hurled 
against each other with equal fury and devotion.* 

It may not perhaps be thought a digression from 
the subject, to observe, that the consequences 
of excommunication were of a temporal, as well as 
of a spiritual nature. The Christian against whom 
it was pronounced was deprived of his part of the 
oblations of the faithful ; the ties both of religious 
and of private friendship were dissolved ; he found 
himself a profane object of abhorrence to the per- 
sons whom he the most esteemed, or by whom he 
had been the most tenderly beloved ; and, as far as 
an expulsion from a respectable society could im- 
print on his character a mark of disgrace, he was 
shunned or suspected by the generality of man- 
kind. It appears from Dupin, that the heaviest 
denunciation rested against him who had the teme- 
rity to fall under the inexpiable guilt of calumniat- 
ing a bishop. 

The success of ecclesiastical power gave birth to 
the memorable distinction of the laity and of the 
clergy,f which had been unknown to the Greek and 
Roman churches. Their mutual hostilities some- 
times disturbed the peace of the infant church, but 
their activity was generally united to enlarge the 
limits of the Christian empire. 

* Concerning this dispute of the re-baptism of heretics, see 
the epistles of Cyprian, and the 7th book of Eusebius. 

t For the origin of these terms, see Mosheim, p. 141; and 
Spanheifu, Hist. Eccles. p. 633. 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 21 

The bishops were destitute of any temporal force, 
and were for a long time discouraged and oppressed, 
rather than assisted, by the civil magistrate ; but 
they realized, according to the beautiful illustra- 
tion of Hume, what Archimedes so much desired 
to have found, another world, on which they fixed 
their machinery, and were thus enabled to move 
this at their pleasure. 

The community of goods, which at first was 
adopted in the primitive church, was gradually 
abolished, having been corrupted and abused by 
the selfishness of the bishops. Instead of an abso- 
lute sacrifice, a moderate proportion was accepted 
by them, and, in their periodical assemblies, every 
Christian, according to the exigency of the occa- 
sion, and the measure of his wealth and piety, pre- 
sented his voluntary offering for the use of the 
common fund.* Nothing, however inconsiderable, 
was refused by the bishops, but it was diligently 
inculcated that in the article of tithes, the Mosaic 
law was still of divine obligation ; and that since 
the Jews, under a less perfect discipline, had been 
commanded to pay a tenth part of all that they 
possessed, it would become the disciples of Christ 
to distinguish themselves by a superior degree of 
liberality,f and to acquire some merit by resigning 

* See Justin Martyr, Apolog. Major, c. 89 ; also Tertullian, 
Apolog. c. 39. 

t See Irensetis ad Hseres, c. 27, 34 ; Qrigen in Num. Homen.; 
Cyprian de Unitat. Eccles. .Constitut. Apostol. c. 34, 35, with 



22 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

a superfluous treasure, which must so soon be 
annihilated with the world itself. 

The deacon was no longer the appointed steward 
of the church. The bishop had usurped full power 
over the stock, and the funds were entrusted to his 
care without account or control. The presbyters 
were confined to their spiritual functions, and the 
dependent order of deacons was now solely em- 
ployed in the management and distribution of the 
ecclesiastical property. Justin and Tertullian, in 
their Apologies, inform us of the purposes to 
which the revenue of the church was applied, and 
the intention for which it was originally bestowed. 
A decent portion was given for the bishops, the 
presbyters, and the deacons \ and a sufficient sum 
was allotted for the expenses of the public worship. 
The whole remainder was the sacred patrimony of 
the poor. According to the discretion of the 
bishop, it was distributed to support widows and 
orphans, and to alleviate the misfortunes of pri- 
soners and captives, more especially when their 
sufferings had been occasioned by their firm at- 
tachment to the cause of religion. We find under 
the reign of Theodosius, that the ancient andillus- 

the notes of Cotelerius. The Constitutions introduce this divine 
precept, by declaring that priests are as much above kings, as 
the soul is above the body. Among the titheable articles they 
enumerate corn, wine, oil, &c. On this subject consult Pri- 
deaux's "Hist, of Tithes," and " Fra Paolo Delle Materie Bene- 
ficiarie ;" two writers of a very different character. 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 23 

trious church of Antioch consisted of one hundred 
thousand persons, three thousand of whom were 
supported from the public offerings.* 

We here see that the revenue of the church con- 
sisted solely in alms, and of these alms, the bishops, 
presbyters, and deacons had only a share * but that 
share the bishops have at last converted — I had al- 
most said, feloniously — into the whole ; thus deceiving 
the donors, and robbing the poor. The bishops, 
whenever they have been left to take what wealth 
and power they pleased, have seldom thought the 
whole too much ; nor do I remember an instance 
where they owned that they had sufficient. They 
have engrossed the whole of some countries ; of 
others, the greatest and best parts; and as much 
as they could of all. Where they have the soil, 
they have the power ; and where they have both, 
they have proved unmerciful landlords, and oppres- 
sive magistrates. Look back on the fine continent 
of Italy, where bishops and priests have rioted and 
tyrannized, and there the laity will be seen in poverty. 
Ought not the laity of England to take warning ? 
Is it not unnatural and monstrous for laymen to 
concur with the bishops and clergy in their exorbi- 
tant claims ? Beside, should not the laity learn 
from them, to take care of themselves? The 
wealth the clergy possess, they derived, and do de- 
rive, from the laity ; with the power they seek and 
assume, they would bind and govern the world. 

* Chrysostom. Opera, torn. 7, p. 658, 810. 



24 PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

Is it natural, or just, or wise, in the laity, to im- 
poverish themselves, to fatten and enrich bishops 
and priests — to forge their own chains, to exalt 
their own creatures and pensioners, into tyrants 
and taskmasters ? Who can forget the insolence 
and tyranny of Archbishop Laud, the amazing 
height of power which he usurped, or his aspiring 
views to raise the clergy above the laity and the 
law ? Who can forget his saucy declaration, that he 
hoped to seethe time when ne'er a Jack Gentlemen in 
England, should dare to be covered before the meanest 
priest ? Do we not know many bishops in the pre- 
sent day, who think, and wish, and design as he 
did; men who adore and extol this usurping arch- 
priest, this prosecutor and tyrant, this instrument 
and prompter of oppression ? 

The man who contends for the usurped power 
and authority of the church, is always esteemed 
and supported by the high priesthood, though he 
should be unsound both in faith and morals. Should 
not this be a rule and an example to the laity, 
and ought they not to prize, and protect, and en- 
courage every man who asserts the rights and pri- 
vileges of Englishmen ? It is equally right and 
honourable to esteem and support any clergyman 
who is bold and candid enough to maintain the in- 
terest and independency of the laity against the in- 
tolerance of prelates. It is foolish, ungrateful, dis- 
honest, and even cruel, to revile such men ; to 
abuse and weaken friends is to join with enemies 5 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS. 25 

who would enthral and bring us under their blind 
guidance. Where the clergy are opulent, are not 
the people poor ? Where they have power, are 
not the people slaves ? Have we not seen it thus in 
Spain and in Italy ? Are such teachers Christians ? 
No: their teaching is false; their doctrines impieties; 
and their lives unholy. Christianity would undo 
them ; this they have banished, and, in its stead, 
have erected the priesthood. " Every one, from 
the least even unto the greatest, is given to covetous- 
ness ; from the prophet even unto the priest, every 
one dealeth falsely." 

This is the effect of usurped power and wealth 
in bishops, which have proved a curse upon religion 
and the world ; as if the Almighty from thence in- 
tended to convince mankind how pernicious and 
destructive they are to his church and people, and 
to warn all nations against encouraging and sup- 
porting them — " that the hypocrite reign not, lest 
the people be ensnared. " 



26 



CHAP. III. 



THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER AND USURPATION 
OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 

Great power and revenues in the church hierarchy 
have not only produced and multiplied every mis- 
chief formerly known in the world, but also pro- 
duced evils so new and terrible as even the pagan 
world never before knew. These are persecutions, 
torments, and death, for conscience and opinion ; 
wars and national massacres, for religion ; with 
that mighty compendium of all that is horrid, 
treacherous, and cruel upon earth, the execrable 
tribunal of the Inquisition. Paganism had nothing 
so shocking and horrible, not even human sacri- 
fices, which were comparatively few, occasional and 
stated, as to be compared to this. The Inquisition 
was a continual human slaughter-house ; and in it 
men, myriads of men, have been immolated, after 
tedious tortures in dark and frightful dungeons, 
after unrelenting racks and tortures, with every 
species of treachery, misery, and terror : and all 
this suffering was inflicted for their sincerity and 



THE INQUISITION, &C. 27 

piety in worshipping God in the way which their 
consciences dictated to be the most correct. 

The Inquisition was nothingmore than the highest 
improvement of persecution. It began with the 
same spirit which the late Dr. Sutton manifested 
towards myself, and which the present Archbishop 
Howley tolerates ; with such negative penalties 
and tests, it ends in fires and halters. I will 
enumerate a few of the many cases for which men 
were subjected to the Inquisition, and it will appear, 
that they are such that no man, who in the least 
exercises his faculties, or practises common cha- 
rity towards his fellow-creatures, or even has 
common commerce with the world, could avoid. If 
he had heard a heretic preach or pray, never 
mind if he were the best and wisest preacher upon 
earth, if he differed from the extravagancies of the 
high church ; — if, being excommunicated, he sued 
not for absolution ; — if a heretic were his friend, 
never mind if he were a Bacon, a Newton, or a 
Locke; — if he did any act of kindness for a 
heretic, visited him, shewed him pity by assisting 
him or giving him counsel ; — if he suspected the 
truth of the false legends and forged miracles of 
the priests , — if he declared his indifference to meats 
or to days ; — if he interpreted Scripture according to 
his own, and to common sense ; — if he concealedany 
heresy, or spared father, mother, wife, or child, — 
he was for these, or for any one of these causes, and 
for any one of a thousand others, liable to the 



28 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 

unparalleled cruelty of the Inquisition. Let me 
add, that by heresy was meant every conscientious, 
honest, rational, and benevolent opinion, differing 
from the senseless, narrow, barbarous whim and 
grimace of an ignorant and bigotted priest. 

As a proof of the expeditious havoc such a 
tribunal must make in a country, Cardinal Tur- 
quemeda, the first Inquisitor-general in Spain, 
even in the infancy of the Inquisition, brought a 
hundred thousand persons into it, in the short 
period of fourteen years ; of these, six thousand 
were burnt alive. Observe, too, that when such 
persons are seized, all that they have is also 
seized, and their families left to starve, or sent 
thither also, if they shew pity, or afford as- 
sistance. 

Let me ask : — Can the merciful God, who sent 
his meek and compassionate Son to lay down his 
life for men, have any thing to do with such a 
church, or with such hellish instruments and 
butchers, impudently calling themselves holy, 
and their scene of butchery, The Holy Office ? 
Wisely did our first reformers disown her being a 
church. But, alas ! Archbishop Laud and his 
followers have since laboured to restore her credit ; 
they have contended for her being a true church, 
and even derived themselves from her. Yes, they 
have strenuously endeavoured to shew themselves 
worthy of her kindred and descent, by assuming 
her pride and cruelty. And the page of modern 



AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 29 

history exhibits their numerous imprisonments, 
excessive fines, whippings, dismemberings, and 
other barbarities, to their own infamy, to the dis- 
honour of Protestants, and to the shame of Eng- 
land. In order to ensnare a man into this dungeon 
of iniquity, they would travel countries, and cross 
seas, to become acquainted with him ; they would 
court, caress, and natter him ; treat him, make 
him presents, lend him money, administer to 
his pleasures, apparently admire and adopt his 
opinions, rail at the church, curse his persecutors 
and the Inquisition, and swear to him an eternal 
friendship. All this was done with a black and 
murderous purpose, to seize him in a proper 
place, and to carry him off to the fires and racks of 
the infernal tribunal. Where the interests of the 
high church are concerned, villany changes its 
nature, and becomes meritorious, and the blackest 
perfidy and even perjury is esteemed and practised 
as good policy. The pope's legate, at the head of 
a crusade against the Albigenses, entrapped their 
protector and general, the Count de Beziers, so- 
lemnly swore not to injure him, and then seized 
and imprisoned him ! 

Let me further add, that blasphemy, or any 
outrageous language and defiance offered to 
Almighty God was not punishable nor cognizable 
by the Inquisition. The great crime and pursuit 
with them was heresy — opposition to the trade 
and false opinions of mercenary priests. Thus, 



30 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 

any profane wretch might blaspheme God without 
fear of the Inquisitors, provided he blasphemed 
like a good churchman, and said nothing against the 
priests or their church; but if heresy were mixed 
with his blasphemy, he could not hope to escape. 
Remarkable and shocking were the hypocrisy and 
profaneness of these Inquisitors ; for after having 
long starved in their horrid dungeons the wretched 
offender ; after having long terrified, misused and 
tortured him, they at last delivered him over to 
the secular arm, and had the solemn assurance 
to beseech the civil magistrate, in the bowels of Jesus 
Christ, not to hurt his life or limb. Yet would 
they excommunicate the civil magistrate if he 
did not burn him alive. Such were the terrible hy- 
pocrisy and tremendous power of the high church 
bishops and clergy. 

I am far from thinking that what I have said 
concerning the Inquisition will be lost upon my 
readers. That terrible part of popery, or indeed 
any other part of popery, of which all is terrible, 
is too little known in England. For some time 
after the Reformation, a due horror was kept up 
among the people, by our preachers against the 
church of Rome ; and it was done like Protestants 
who knew their duty : the clergy who omit it are 
unworthy of their office, and know little of the 
simplicity and power of the Gospel of Christ. 

It is a painful reflection, that soon after the 
Reformation, the bishops and clergy of England 



AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 31 

began to contend for dominion and wealth. They 
found that they could not consistently rail at the 
church of Rome, and yet follow her example. 
Their style at last became so far altered, that in- 
stead of painting and reviling her as "an old 
withered harlot, the mother of abominations and 
whoredoms, and drunk with the blood of the saints," 
it became fashionable to defend her ; indeed, to 
praise her, and even to punish such as exposed 
her. Among her friends were Archbishop Laud 
and his adherents. It is true, that he and some 
few of the same character, wrote against some 
parts of popery; but what avails a bishop's writing 
against papists, if at the same time he is intro- 
ducing and practising popery at home ? Dr. How- 
ley should know, that not only cruelty and severity 
for opinion, but that all authority assumed over 
conscience and the soul, which was so abundantly 
done in my case by his predecessor Dr. Sutton, 
and supported by himself, is popery, by whatever 
name his Grace may please to call it. It was 
natural for Archbishop Laud, who was acting as 
pope himself, to deny the power of the other pope, 
at least here in his jurisdiction. As to the bare 
notions, the ceremonies, the grimaces, and mum- 
mery of popery, they are of little consequence, 
beyond the evils which they introduce to preserve 
the power of priestcraft, by creating and conti- 
nuing delusions among the people. 

Laud and his adherents were notorious perse- 



32 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 

cutors. Let all bishops take warning from the 
detestation in which his persecuting character is 
held; and let them remember that all persecution, 
in every degree, even the smallest, is popery and 
an advance towards the Inquisition. I have 
already shewn that negative penalties are the first 
degree, so death and burning is the last and 
highest ; all the steps are but natural gradations 
following the first degree and introducing the last ; 
for the smaller implies the necessity of a greater 
where the former fails, and consequently of the 
greatest of all, which is the Inquisition^ 

It was not at all remarkable that Laud and 
his associates were charged with being Papists, 
when they openly introduced and exerted all the 
terrible parts of popery — church power and perse- 
cution ; and thus established church tyranny in 
England, and an Inquisition. It was thus that 
his bloody court was established, and the same 
claims and practices will always introduce and 
establish it. Madam de Motteville, in the "Me- 
moirs of Anne of Austria," says expressly, upon 
the authority of the Queen of King Charles the 
First, that Laud was a good Catholic in his heart. 
It is certain that he brought into the English 
church what was most terrible in popery, its 
power and cruelty, with not a few of its fooleries 
and superstitions, the sad effects of which are 
keenly felt by every real Christian at the present 
day. Whoever, then, is a tyrant and a persecutor, is 



AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 33 

a Papist, in the only sense of the word about which 
English Protestants and English freemen are 
concerned. 

Let those bishops who claim power to control 
conscience and opinion, consider this, though they 
may have hitherto neglected it. Let, also, those 
inferior clergy and laymen, over whom such power 
is claimed, consider it, and look upon the bishops 
who claim it as I do ; that is, as enemies and de- 
ceivers, who would seduce them, in order to enslave 
them. How would any Englishman, any Protes- 
tant, who dares own his opinion, regard the In- 
quisition ? Most certainly he would abhor it ! Let 
him then abhor and oppose the ways and practices 
which lead to it. It is supported solely by the 
power of a corrupt clergy, which never has, and 
never can, produce any good. Dominion over 
thoughts and notions is in itself a monster, the 
greatest of all monsters ; it must be supported by 
monstrous means, even by priests wielding of 
directing the civil sword. Oh, hypocrisy ! profound 
and execrable, — the pretended followers of the 
humble Jesus, treading upon the necks of his dis- 
ciples, engrossing their wealth, and spilling their 
blood ! 

Is any man fond of his liberty, and of examining 
all opinions, which is his natural right ; — would he 
worship God according to the dictates of his own 
conscience, without being subject to the insolent 
rebuke and control of a haughty bishop ; — would 



34 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 

he be exempt from vexatious suits and prosecutions, 
from clerical curses, followed with civil punish- 
ments, and, as they say, with damnation ; — would 
he preserve his conscience, his person, his time, his 
property, and all that is dear to him? — he must, 
then, oppose all arbitrary power in bishops, as 
being utterly repugnant to whatever is dear to man 
and to society in general. I never knew or heard of 
any clerical body that ever possessed power, with- 
out using it perniciously ; or that could persecute, 
and did not persecute. Those carnal men who 
have argued and inveighed the most against perse- 
cution, when suffering under it, exercised it after- 
wards, whenever they obtained the rod in their 
own hands, without shame or remorse. Thus 
the Catholics acted against the Arians, and the 
Arians, in their turn, against the Catholics ; both 
complaining bitterly against persecution, and yet 
both vehement persecutors. 

St. Athanasius could at one time argue, that the 
devil uses violence because he has a bad cause, and 
has not the truth on his side. Christ, on the con- 
trary, uses only exhortations, because his cause is 
good. * ' If any man," says the Saviour, ' ' will be my 
disciple, let him follow me." He forces no man to 
follow him ; nor does he enter a house by force 
where he is shut out. Whence the Father observes, 
that a persecuting sect could not be of God. So 
argue all the orthodox upon every occasion, and I 
think very truly. St. Hilary urges the same argu- 



AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 35 

ment to an Arian emperor and persecutor, and for 
this very reason denies the Arians to be the true 
church. But the orthodox, when they were pre- 
dominant, changed their tone, and never were 
there more merciless persecutors, oppressors, and 
butchers, than they. Hence their own reasoning 
has been frequently turned upon them, and the 
heretics have charged them in their turn, as being 
none of Christ's flock, because they had renounced 
his spirit, and exercised force and cruelty. The 
Donatists particularly taunted them upon this un- 
christian inconsistency. 

No reasoning could ever restrain churchmen, 
orthodox or heterodox, when they were invested 
with power, or with the direction of power, from 
using it violently. The Presbyterians justly ex- 
claimed against the violence and tyranny of Laud 
and his brethren for harassing, imprisoning, fining, 
and persecuting them ; and even driving them 
from their native homes, to seek peace and shelter 
and the quiet worship of God, in the woods of 
America. He had converted the high commission 
court into an Inquisition ; indeed, every bishop's 
court was become an Inquisition ; and many of the 
best churchmen were silenced, fined, and even de- 
prived, for adhering honestly to the doctrines of 
the Reformation, to primitive strictness of manners, 
and to the observation of the sabbath. 

Did the Presbyterians afterwards — these very 
Presbyterians, who had thus groaned and smarted 

d 2 



36 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 

under persecution, and bitterly complained of its 
injustice and fury — exercise charity and forbearance 
towards others, who dissented from them, when 
they became masters of ecclesiastical rule ? No ! 
never was a more bitter and intolerant race, or 
more rigorous exactors of conformity. Every man 
who differed from them was an enemy to the state, 
an innovator, forsooth, whom it behoved the state 
to suppress. They had forgotten that Laud had 
brought the same charge against them but a little 
before, and how unmercifully they had been used 
as public incendiaries, enemies, and innovators. 
Thus it is, no set of priests fail to draw down, if 
they can, the anger of the crown upon any man 
who has merited their 's. And thus it was that the 
monks of St. Denis in France, in the twelfth cen- 
tury, accused the famous Abelard, then amongst 
them, with being an enemy to the glory and crown 
of France, only for denying that their founder was 
Dionysius the Areopagite mentioned in the New 
Testament. Disaffection to civil authorities is a 
charge which all domineering priests in the world 
have ever brought, and will ever bring, against 
all who offend them, and against all who withdraw 
from their power, and disown their systems. The 
Presbyterians, both before and after they attained 
the predominancy, felt this to be true, and ex- 
claimed against it ; but did not forget to reiterate 
the charge without blushing, as soon as they tasted 
of dominion. 



AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 37 

The churchmen, who had persecuted the Presby- 
terians without mercy, the moment they found 
themselves persecuted by parliaments, made heavy 
outcries against persecution, and preached and 
wrote for toleration. It was then that Dr. Taylor 
published his book, entitled, "The Liberty of Pro- 
phesying," an excellent book, and one that was 
extremely applauded by his brethren of the episco- 
pal profession. But, let me ask, did these church- 
men, did even Dr. Taylor, after the restoration, act 
upon his own reasoning and writing for indulgence 
to dissenters ? No ! It was the great business of 
the churchmen, when they had resumed their old 
seats and revenues, to preach, to write, to solicit 
severe laws, and to urge the execution of those laws 
against their Protestant brethren, during a long 
reign. 

All this is strangely inconsistent, as well as 
strangely unchristian, on both sides. It was also 
strange madness, as well as wickedness, in the civil 
power, to gratify the sour and aspiring spirit of the 
ecclesiastics by plaguing and punishing the people 
about religion. There is no end of their demands, 
nor of the unreasonableness of such demands. The 
high clergy in England, though avowed enemies to 
toleration, would think it extreme persecution if it 
were denied to themselves, or their brethren in Scot- 
land. Aye, but we of the church of Engl and are the 
true church of Christ, says the English episcopalian: 
and so says Rome of herself, so says Scotland, so 



38 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER 

say Geneva, and Greece, and so say all the churches 
in the world ; and each of them would persecute 
and abolish all the rest as being false or defective. 
This is not the spirit of religion, nor of its 
Author, but an open departure from truth. It is 
the spirit of faction and fury which utterly blinds 
men, and extinguishes peace and charity, without 
which, men cannot be followers of Christ. Did we 
not see this spirit of intolerance daily, it would be 
incredible to what extravagancies religious disputes 
will carry men. Daniel Tilenus, a learned man 
and public professor, —I think of divinity, — became 
so heated in favour of Arminianism in opposition to 
Calvinism and predestination, that he declared, 
were he obliged to change his religion, he would 
turn Turk rather than Calvinist, for he denied that 
the Calvinists believed in God, but admitted that the 
Turk did. Grotius, when ambassador for Sweden 
in France, had two chaplains, the one a Calvinist, 
the other a Lutheran, who preached by turns. 
They principally laboured to revile the doctrines of 
each other, so that their sermons were only invec- 
tives. The ambassador, tired and ashamed of the 
extravagancies of these reverend madmen, begged 
them to explain the gospel without wounding 
Christian charity. This good advice neither of 
them relished. The Lutheran chaplain, particu- 
larly, replied, that he must preach what God in- 
inspired ; and went on in the old strain. Thus all 
the ravings of hot-headed divines are fathered upon 



AND USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONTINUED. 39 

God. Grotius at last ordered him either to forbear 
railing or preaching. The meek preacher turned 
away in great wrath, and expressed his amazement 
that a Christian ambassador should shut the mouth 
of the Holy Ghost. This he thought very severe 
persecution; and he published his complaints every- 
where, that Grotius had shut the mouth of the 
Holy Ghost ; i. e., the mouth of his chaplain. 

But to return to the consequences of the usurpa- 
tion of power and the acquisition of wealth by the 
bishops and clergy. Opulence and dominion were 
so foreign from the first preaching of the gospel, 
so little known to its Author and his disciples, the 
estimation in which they were held was so trifling, 
and, indeed, so singularly changed in idea, that 
all was banished but the names. What can be seen 
of Christ and his humility, of the apostles and their 
poverty, in the pomp and pride of mitres, in courtly 
equipages, in splendid liveries, in a word, in all the 
fierceness and domination of prelacy ? Is any thing 
of the plainness and simplicity of the gospel to be 
found in the intricacies of school divinity, or in the 
endless wranglings and strange distinctions of ec- 
clesiastics ? Do the bishops bear any likeness to 
Christ? Does the ambition of the clergy, their 
avidity for power and rich churches, for which they 
have contended with blows, bloodshed, and slaugh- 
ter, come from Christ, or from the genius of his 
religion? Were the seditions, tumults, and wars, 
which followed such ambitious pursuits, the effects 



40 THE INQUISITION ; AND PROGRESSIVE POWER, &C. 

of a Christian or of a clerical spirit ? Were not 
such evils and calamities derived from an insatiable 
thirst after grandeur and authority ? Yes ! and 
the love of power, which under the most hypocri- 
tical disguises could insinuate itself into the breasts 
of men, has descended through all ages of the 
church, to the more enlightened period of the nine- 
teenth century, as the heirloom to bishops. 



41 



CHAP. IV. 



THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND USURPATION OP BISHOPS, 
CONCLUDED. 



The clergy of England, as well as of other nations, 
are always forward to complain of innovations, and 
of disturbing things that are settled. But pray 
who have made more innovations than churchmen? 
Who have more disturbed and changed religion 
and states by their ambition, their disputes, their 
turbulent behaviour, and their exorbitant claims ? 
And who are so much given to change ? What 
changes, what violent and lawless changes, were 
there not wrought by Laud and his brethren in his 
time, and attempted by men of his spirit ever 
since ? The laity have acted only on the defensive, 
warding off the attempts and monstrous demands 
made from time to time by the clergy. What is a 
great part of ecclesiastical history, but a continual 
detail and repetition of the efforts of the clergy to 
govern mankind and to master the world ? Is not 
this an innovation with a witness, a propensity to 
change, an actual and alarming change ? Have 



42 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

they not been continually attempting to be what 
they were not, to possess what they did not, still 
to be richer, and still to be more powerful ? Could 
there be a greater change, than from the almsmen 
of the people to become lords and princes ; from 
poverty and humility to rise to mitres, and dia- 
dems, and dominion ? Could such a change, a 
change so mighty and unnatural, be accomplished 
without turning the world upside down ? 

This is something more than quieta movere, some- 
thing more than disturbing things that were settled. 
Did not Laud actually master and abolish the laws 
of his country, assert the independence of the 
clergy of the civil power, and terrify the' judges 
from issuing prohibitions, as they were actually 
sworn to do ? Did the spirit of Laud, for power, 
independence, and princely revenues, die with the 
archbishop ? No ! other bishops have improved 
upon his scheme, and added, if possible, to his 
wild and enslaving pretensions. A proof that they 
were the pretensions of the clergy, at least of the 
majority, we may remark, that the convocation 
could never be persuaded to censure them. 

Whoever doubts whether the clergy have been 
the authors of changes in the world of a great and 
calamitous nature, whether they have themselves 
changed and degenerated from their patterns and 
original, need only read history, and compare them 
with Christ and his apostles. Compare their preten- 
sions, pomp, luxury, and possessions, with the 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 43 

simplicity, humility, labour, and disinterestedness 
of the primitive Christians. 

The truth is, when the clergy make this com- 
plaint, which is very usually done, that it is not 
safe to disturb things which are established, they 
only mean to discourage men from disturbing them 
in their favourite pursuit after power and riches. 
Whatever is established on the authority of the 
New Testament, there are but few men to be 
found with the audacity to disturb. But if the 
clergy, with a progressively usurped power, make 
demands which are neither warranted by Christ 
nor the law of equity, it is right, and our bounden 
duty, to disturb and even to defeat them. 

Such high pretenders to princely rule and opu- 
lence are the men who are given to change ; and it 
is always right and just to oppose usurpation, to 
redress grievances, to remove nuisances, and to 
attack fraud, avarice, and nonsense. 

It would be endless to adduce particulars. But 
suppose any assuming clergyman were so extrava- 
gant and daring, and had so little regard for con- 
science and public tranquillity, as to attempt to 
establish an ecclesiastical tribunal in our colonies 
abroad, to the terror and affliction of our brethren, 
many of whom were first driven there by the op- 
pression and barbarity of such courts here, especi- 
ally in the reign of such a man as Archbishop 
Laud ; would not such an attempt tend to a bold 
innovation, and discover a busy, an arrogant, and 



44 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

a dangerous spirit in such a clergyman ? and would 
he not be a good subject and an honest man who 
set himself against such a wicked attempt, and ex- 
posed its flagrant tendency ? 

Suppose another clergyman to be such an enemy 
to the civil Constitution and to the Church of Eng- 
land, or such a deserter from it, as to contend for 
the independence of the clergy, for their exemption 
from the civil laws ; indeed, for trying a clergyman, 
when he is to be tried, by a jury of clergymen ; 
would not such a man deserve severe censure and 
punishment? and would it not be honest and meri- 
torious to defend the laws and repulse this enemy, 
this innovator, this papist ? 

Suppose that any other designing priest were 
found promoting superstition for the ends of autho- 
rity and gain, abusing the credulity of the people 
by pretending to transfuse holiness into ground 
and stone walls, as if earth and stone, or any thing 
inanimate, were susceptible of sanctity, or their 
quality to be altered by solemn words ; and all this 
without any colour or warrant from law or gospel, 
but in opposition to the spirit of both ; would not 
such a crafty priest be a false guide, an innovator, 
one who relinquished truth and the Protestant 
religion, to promote error, and to introduce popery 
and delusion? would not the man who resisted 
and confuted him be a friend to society, a defender 
of truth, and a foe to fraud ? 

Suppose, again, that a bishop, so bent upon ex- 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 45 

alting churchmen and their revenue, that he en- 
couraged designs and schemes for transferring the 
whole wealth of a nation by no slow degrees into 
the coffers of the clergy ; would not such a man 
be a promoter of change, of a universal and melan- 
choly change, and a declared enemy to the laity ? 
And would it not be becoming laymen, nay, 
incumbent on them, to be upon their guard to 
secure their estates, and to preserve themselves and 
posterity from poverty and vassalage ? 

Suppose, once more, that a clergyman should 
have the boldness to declare, publicly, that a bishop 
still continued a true bishop of the Church of 
Christ, even though he stood convicted of, and was 
deprived for, the highest and blackest crimes, viz. 
perjury, disloyalty, conspiracy, treason, and rebel- 
lion j would not such a declaration be highly inso- 
lent, scandalous, and punishable ? And would it 
not be equally flagrant to tell those who make 
priests, that they cannot unmake them; that priests 
are above the law and the laity ; that the clergy 
have a power and designation which laymen cannot 
take away, though the laity and the law actually 
create them, and confer upon them the only desig- 
nation they can have, nay, confer their whole 
office ? Our Constitution does not own or know 
any character in any subject whatever but what 
the law bestows ; indeed, all the clergy renounce 
upon oath all power whatsoever but what they 
derive from hence. An Act of Parliament might, 



46 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

to-morrow, effectually degrade all the bishops and 
clergy in Great Britain, and reduce them all to 
laymen. An Act of Parliament could create imme- 
diately so many priests from the laity, without any 
other title, apparatus, or ceremony. Whoever is 
declared to be a priest by any society, is a priest 
to them, and ceases to be one the moment they 
declare him none. The singular notion of an 
indelible character is arrant nonsense and true 
priestcraft ; nay, it is the ground- work of all priest- 
craft. Would it be borne by our parliament, by 
our assembly of law-makers, to have this indelible 
character, this root of popery, maintained to their 
faces ? Would it not draw down their indignation 
and censures upon the bold offender, — I had almost 
said, deceiver? 

I mention these instances as bare possibilities 
which cannot be tolerated in this free Protestant 
country ; they are common in popish countries, 
and are a few of the reigning tenets and practices 
which support popery. How zealous Laud was, 
and some of his present supporters are, in such 
practices and tenets, I leave to my reader to deter- 
mine. 

It is frequently painful to learn by experience, 
and I know no lesson more necessary, nor more 
revolting, than one from the behaviour of the 
clergy in the reign of King Charles I. At this 
period they had become wanton with extravagant 
power, and used it cruelly in persecuting and op- 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 47 

pressing their fellow- subjects. Let us, as English- 
men, jealous of our privileges, take care for the 
future, that those who are set apart for the pur- 
poses of holiness be not spoiled by the unnatural 
possession and exercise of worldly business and 
authority. It is profaning holy men as they are, 
to embark them in secular affairs, in the commerce 
and occupations of laymen and worldlings. As 
the clergy miserably misled that unhappy prince 
King Charles I., let us hope it will serve as an 
unfailing warning to other princes from being led 
by them. 

We may infer, that whenever the clergy leave 
preaching the gospel, and become courtiers and 
politicians, they are out of their sphere, and become 
more wild and extravagant, as well as more wicked, 
and shameless, and false, than other men, as they 
did in the reign of Charles I., by promoting and 
justifying all unlawful and merciless imposition 
upon the laity. They also contended that we were 
obliged to undergo all servitude, to be tame and 
passive slaves to the mere will of the prince, and 
to obey that will as our only law. 

It never could enter into the heart of a layman, 
that the merciful God authorized iniquity, perjury, 
perfidiousness, tyranny, and despotism ; and that 
any miserable wretch, filling the office of a priest, 
who had all these crying sins to answer for, was 
still sacred, and the vicegerent of Heaven ; or that 
God, who hates wickedness, had forbidden resist- 



48 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

ance even to remedy the highest and most compli- 
cated wickedness ; nay, that he would damn all who 
had sense and virtue enough to do so. 

These positions were monsters, formed by clergy- 
men out of their sphere, and in high repute with 
Laud and his associates. It was not very natural 
for the laity to love and reverence such clergymen, 
or their monstrous positions. "The Lord said 
unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name ; 
I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, 
neither spake unto them ; they prophesy unto you 
a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, 
and the deceit of their hearts." It would be pru- 
dent to keep all clergymen in future from thus ex- 
posing themselves to scorn and ridicule, and from 
promoting mischief and misery among the laity. 
Their guilt is infinitely more heinous and aggravated 
than that of the greatest private sinner, inasmuch 
as it affects and involves whole nations, and is 
impiously covered with the veil of religion. 

According to this rule, the blackest felon that 
ever suffered was innocent, in comparison with 
Laud and those of his leaven. Had Laud con- 
sumed his time in debauchery, he could have done 
but small hurt, compared to what he did as a 
troubler and a seducer of the world. His morals 
as a private man did but heighten his credit to do 
mischief. With what an ill grace must men re- 
buke private vice and the detail of sins, who them- 
selves vend and commit sins by the gross ! This 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 49 

is, with a witness, to strain at gnats, and swallow 
camels. Crimes are to be measured by their con- 
sequences. He who persecutes men, or who 
misleads and enslaves them, is the most guilty of 
all criminals. Had Laud been a parish priest, and 
confined himself to the duties of his cure ; or, being 
a bishop, had limited himself to the duties of his 
function ; he, who was a man of learning and of 
morals, might have been an exemplary and a useful 
man. But, alas ! he and his brethren must rule 
the court and the nation, in doing which they over- 
turned both, by an excess of tyranny and oppres- 
sion ; and they who raised, or at least increased 
the storm, which at last swept England, over- 
whelmed themselves in the public ruin. 

These are the men and circumstances proper to 
be commemorated. From these we are to take 
our lessons and warnings against a relapse into 
similar evil days and calamities. If there be any 
curse still existing from the king's blood, it must 
justly lie upon the present bishops and their de- 
pendents, who approve of the men and measures 
that first rendered the king arbitrary and oppres- 
sive, and from thence unpopular and distrusted by 
his subjects. Here the evil began, and from hence 
it was spread, like a train, which on being ignited 
explodes. Had the archbishop always ruled in the 
way he proposed when too late, when men were 
irritated and enraged and full of distrust, there 
had been no civil war, no conquering army, no 

E 



50 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

Cromwell, and, consequently, no royal blood 
spilt. Laud's after design and promises to govern 
better, when he saw that the laws and consti- 
tution of his country would prevail, have fre- 
quently been urged in his favour ; but they are a 
tacit acknowledgment that he had governed ill 
before. Perhaps the prelate at the eleventh hour 
listened to the voice of conscience ; perhaps he 
meant to act better. It is certain his misrule had 
been bitterly felt ; nor is there any proof, but his 
word, that he intended to change, — a word which 
had been often and egregiously broken, especially 
as to the Bill of Rights, which he sacredly and 
solemnly promised to observe, yet afterwards 
openly violated. 

How the memory of Charles I. remains popular 
among many of our clergy, and the laity under 
their influence, is obvious enough. Charles was 
a great bigot to the church, to ceremonies and 
show in religion, and to the power and pomp of 
churchmen. The clergy he cherished, and exalted, 
and obeyed. He invested them with his own 
power, and surrendered to them almost the whole 
supremacy ; he not only suffered them to enjoy the 
use of it as a present from him, but suffered them to 
seize it for themselves, and even to deny his title 
to it. For such favour and regard ; for supporting 
them in their persecution of the puritans ; for his 
overwhelming them with power, and becoming 
their creature, rather than head of the church ; for 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 51 

these things, they promoted and consecrated all 
the excesses, oppressions, and lawless measures 
of his reign. These violences were exercised over 
the laity, and the clergy were so far from feeling 
them, that they shared in his Majesty's domination, 
and acted the king in their place and turn. It was 
the King's conduct toward the clergy that is the 
true source of so much merit and praise being 
given to him. For this, Charles I. is adored and 
sainted ; for this, he has often been compared to 
Jesus Christ in his sufferings ; and for this, the 
guilt of murdering him has been represented as 
greater than that of crucifying our blessed Lord. 

These panegyrics are partial and shameful, as 
well as impious and profane. The clergy who 
utter them, care not how a prince abuses his trust, 
and oppresses his lay subjects, if he will but 
humour and aggrandize them. This is partial and 
dishonourable ; nor can there be a greater insult 
upon the laity, than to desire, or even hope, that 
they should join in such praises and applause as 
the book of " common prayer for the church" 
requires. They who feel oppression, cannot extol 
him who commits it, nor reckon him a good king 
who uses them as slaves. 

No sort of men are more tender than the clergy, 
when their own property, or persons, or privileges 
are touched, or more severe and resenting, or even 
more unforgiving towards such an interference 
with either. This was clearly illustrated by the 

e 2 



52 THE PROGRESSIVE POWER AND 

courteous indignity expressed by Dr. Howley, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, on the subject of Tithes, 
in the House of Lords, on the 15th of last Decem- 
ber, when also another conceited high churchman, 
Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London, maintained that 
no man had a greater right to his estates, than the 
clergy had to their tithes. I believe that had the 
clergy been used as the laity have been — treated 
as slaves, - and worried by arbitrary power, and 
grievous impositions — they had long ago prayed 
for the annihilation of the order of archbishops and 
bishops ; or, at least, continued unceasingly in their 
efforts to obtain a Parliamentary Reform, with a view 
to sever the church from the state ; that the abuses 
and corruptions which for centuries have been 
shielded under the garb of sanctity, might be 
destroyed ; that the people might religiously enjoy 
their birthright, no longer annoyed by oaths ex 
officio, and by the united tyranny and usurpation 
of bishops ; but be able to sit under their own 
vine and fig-tree, and none make them afraid. 

As to those high churchmen who contend that 
the clergy is a distinct body from the laity, 
with separate interests and views, they can- 
not be surprised to find the laity improving the 
hint and example, and taking care of themselves. 
It is natural for the people to remember that they 
alone give and continue to the clergy what they 
possess, and make them what they are. Bishops 
have long nourished and domineered; it is high 



USURPATION OF BISHOPS, CONCLUDED. 53 

time for us to look at these things, to resent such 
insults, and to mark such insultors. May the 
people of England awaken from their slumbers, and 
contend with an unceasing perseverance for their 
religious liberties and rights, to the condemnation 
of all the usurpations and extravagant claims 
of power ; to the abolition of all selfish and popish 
tenets of English bishops and high churchmen, 
till they triumph over priestcraft and despotism, 
the hydra of all our calamities, to enjoy the happy 
results of an unqualified freedom, and an un- 
restricted peace ! 



54 



CHAP. V. 



EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION FOUNDED ON THE WEAKNESS 
OP HUMAN NATURE. 



There is not a living creature in the universe 
which has not some constitutional weakness, or 
original imbecility coeval with its being ; I mean 
some inclinations or disgusts, some peculiar desires 
or fears, that render it an easy prey to other ani- 
mals, which, from their constitutional sagacity or 
experience, know how to take advantage of this 
infirmity. Of this it would be endless to enu- 
merate particulars. My object is only to shew 
that all the dignity of human nature, and the supe- 
riority which the Almighty has given to man above 
other beings, have not exempted him from im- 
perfections, which probably were left in his nature 
to put him in remembrance of his mortality, to 
humble his pride, and to excite his diligence. 

The peculiar foible of mankind is superstition, or 
an intrinsic and panic fear of beings invisible and 
unknown. It is obvious to every one that there 



EPISCOPAL POWER, &C. 55 

must be causes in nature for all the good or evil 
which does, or ever can, happen to us ; and it is 
impossible for any man so far to divest himself of 
all concern for his own happiness, as not to be so- 
licitous to know what those causes are ; and since, 
for the most part, they are so hidden and out of 
sight that we cannot perceive or discover them by 
our own endeavours ; since they are immaterial 
and in their own nature invisible, we are generally 
ready to take the ipse dixit of those men who have 
the dexterity to make us believe that they know 
more of the matter than we do ourselves. 

To this ignorance and credulity we are indebt- 
ed for the most grievous frauds and impositions 
which ever did, or do now, oppress mankind. To 
these we owe the revelations and visions of enthu- 
siasts, all the forged religions in the world, and 
the abuses and corruptions of the true one, as well 
as all the idle and fantastical stories of conjurers 
and witches, of spirits, apparitions, fairies, demons, 
hobgoblins, and fortune-tellers j the belief in dreams, 
portents, omens, prognostics, and the various sorts 
of divinations; all of which, more or less, disturb 
the greatest part of the world, and have made man- 
kind the dupes and property of knaves and impos- 
tors in all ages. 

Every thing in the universe is in constant mo- 
tion, and wherever we move we are surrounded 
with bodies, every one of which must, in a certain 
degree, operate on themselves and us 5 and it can- 



56 EPISCOPAL POWER FOUNDED 

not be otherwise, that in the variety of actions and 
events which happen in all nature, but some must 
appear very extraordinary to those who know not 
their true causes. Men naturally admire what they 
cannot comprehend, and seem to do some sort of 
homage to their understandings in believing what- 
ever is out of their reach to be supernatural. 

From hence perpetual advantages have been 
given, and occasions taken by priests to circum- 
vent and oppress the credulous and unwary. What 
fraudulent uses have been made of eclipses, me- 
teors, epidemical plagues, inundations, great thun- 
ders and lightnings, and amazing prodigies and seem- 
ing menaces of nature ! What juggling tricks have 
been, or may be, practised upon the ignorant with 
glasses, speaking-trumpets, ventriloquies, echoes, 
phosphorus, magic-Ian thorns, mirrors, and innu- 
merable other things ! The Americans were made 
to believe that paper and letters were spirits, which 
conveyed men's thoughts from one to another ; and 
a dancing mare was in the last century burnt for a 
witch in the inquisition in Portugal ! 

Nature works by a thousand ways imperceptible 
to us. The loadstone draws iron to its embrace ; 
and gold, quicksilver. The sensitive plant shrinks 
from the touch; some sort of vegetables attract 
one another and twine together ; others grow best 
apart. The treading upon the torpedo affects and 
gives freezing pain to the whole body ; turkey- 
cocks and pheasants fly at a red rag; a rattle-snake 



ON THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. 57 

is said to possess a magical power in his eyes that 
will force a squirrel to run into his mouth ; music 
will cure the bite of a tarantula ; and the frights 
and longings of pregnant women will stamp im- 
pressions upon the babes in embryo. People in 
their sleep will walk securely over precipices, and 
the ridges of houses, where they durst not venture 
when awake. Lightning will melt a sword with- 
out injuring the scabbard. 

There is a sympathy and antipathy within us, 
which we all feel, that baffle and get the better 
of our best reasonings and philosophy. These are 
shewn in love, in fear, in hatred, in ambition, and 
in almost every act of the mind ; but in nothing so 
much as in superstition. Sometimes we find a 
secret panic, and at other times a strange and un- 
common energy, a feeling of a mighty power 
within us ; and not being able to account by any 
deduction of reason, or by any cause of nature, for 
such sensations, we are easily persuaded to be- 
lieve them to be supernatural. Hence great phi- 
losophers, poets, legislators, illustrious conquerors, 
and often madmen, have been thought in many 
ages, by themselves as well as by others, to have 
been inspired; and even distempers, such as apo- 
plexies, epilepsies, and trances, have been deemed 
miraculous. 

Nothing strikes so strongly upon our senses as 
that which causes surprise and admiration. There 
are few men who are not affected by unusual sounds 



58 EPISCOPAL POWER FOUNDED , 

and voices, with the groans of others in misery, 
the solemnity of a coronation or any public show, 
the pomp of a funeral, the farce of a procession, 
the power of eloquence, the charms of poetry, the 
rich and splendid equipage of great men, or the 
solemn phiz and mien of an enthusiast. Whoever, 
therefore, can find out the secret of hitting luckily 
upon this foible and native imbecility in man- 
kind, may govern and lead them as he pleases. 
Herein has consisted the great skill and success 
of crafty priests in all ages. They have made use 
of this power to turn us and wind us to all their 
purposes, and have built and founded most of 
their superstitions upon it. They have always 
adapted their worship rather to catch our passions 
than convince our minds and enlighten our under- 
standings ; all of which I shall prove is directly 
contrary to the spirit of Christianity and the pre- 
cepts of the gospel. 

For this reason the heathens built their temples 
in groves, in solitary dark and desert recesses, 
near or over caverns and grottoes, or in the midst 
of echoing and resounding rocks, that the hideous 
and dismal aspect, and often hollow and hoarse 
bellowing of such places, might strike a solemn 
awe and religious horror into their votaries, and 
sometimes help their imaginations to hear voices, 
and see forms, and so intimidate and prepare them 
for any stories and impressions which they should 
think it their interest to make upon them. 



ON THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. 59 

The popish priests have admirably aped their 
predecessors, by building their churches dark and 
dismal, with figured and painted windows, to let in 
a false and glimmering light ; the structure arched 
and contrived in such manner as to resound the 
voice hollow and shrill ; with private apartments, 
cemeteries for their saints, pompous inscriptions, 
whispering places, secret chapels for confessions, 
masses, dirges, penances, and other devotional ex- 
ercises. Like the heathen, they also build their 
temples solemn and magnificent, in antic and un- 
common figures, adorn them with silver and gold, 
rich carpets, curious statues, and images inlaid 
with jewels. Their priests appear in gaudy vest- 
ments and fantastical robes and caps, and perform 
their worship with music and affected ceremonies ; 
all which pageantry and farce is calculated and in- 
tended to attract the eyes, act upon the passions, 
amuse, lull, and suspend the understanding, and 
draw admiration and reverence to those who pre- 
side in these fabrics, and attend this pompous 
adoration. Their bells, also, which call the people 
together, are contrived to emit such sounds as affect 
vulgar minds with a sort of superstitious and 
pleasing melancholy. 

I remember visiting a clergyman some years 
ago at Castle-Eaton Rectory, near Lechlade, in 
Gloucestershire, and my friend, anxious to interest 
me, took me to a church two or three miles distant, 
built, I believe, during the last century; at least, it 



60 EPISCOPAL POWER FOUNDED 

was erected by Protestants. The windows of this 
church are unusually large, in proportion to the 
size of the building, and many in number ; the 
whole of them are of richly painted glass, but the 
subjects of several windows are ridiculous in the 
extreme. One, in particular, I well recollect. It 
represents the jaws of hell, with the devil's assis- 
tants furnishing materials for the flames, in wheel- 
barrows and carts ; but how will my reader be 
surprised when I state the nature of the mate- 
rials ! — They were all of one kind, neither wood nor 
coals — but women ! Not a man is to be seen 
either in the wheelbarrows and carts, or in hell ; 
but figures, in the shape of men, are seen dragging 
women by the long hair of their heads to the 
flames. The glass of these windows is said to 
have been seized in an enemy's prize ship, by 
one of our ships of war, and brought to England ; 
and the church in question was erected for the 
express purpose of receiving the glass. Here 
we have another forbidding and disgusting portrait 
of our enlightened Protestant bishops, who could 
apply such materials to the erection of a sanctuary 
to the God of mercy. 

As Christian priests have become more numer- 
ous, have received larger revenues and more leisure, 
so they have greatly improved on the heathens in 
this art of deceiving; inasmuch that there is scarcely 
an imperfection or error in human nature which is 
not adopted into their scheme, and made subser- 



ON THE WEAKNESS OF HUMAN NATURE. 61 

vient to their interest. Men of sprightly genius 
and courage are caught by their ambition, are 
highly honoured, nattered, and raised up by their 
general voice to the highest dignities, and then 
are indulged in all their passions, and gratified 
by the condescension of dignitaries, who assist 
them in their ambitious projects. By these arts, 
those talents which should be nobly employed to 
free mankind from sacerdotal usurpations, are 
meanly perverted to support and aggrandize the 
priestly and antichristian power. 

The hierarchy of the Romish church has always 
found men of violence and impetuous tempers to 
execute their tyrannical designs, and to take 
vengeance of their enemies ; and the debauched 
and wicked have been made to buy their peace of 
Heaven by giving money and lands to the priests. 
But none contribute so much to advance their 
system as visionaries and enthusiasts. There are 
in all countries multitudes of people whom igno- 
rance, pride, conceit, ill habit of body, melancholy 
and splenetic tempers, unfortunate circumstances, 
causeless and secret fears, and a panic disposition 
of mind, have prepared to be the objects, as well 
as instruments, of delusion. Some of these 
have been thrust or decoyed into religious houses, 
or persuaded to lead retired, recluse, and austere 
lives ; to torture and punish themselves with 
whippings, penances, and fastings, and to walk 
barefoot, in order to astonish the gaping mul- 



62 EPISCOPAL POWER, &C. 

titude, and thereby gain reverence to the priest- 
hood for their fancied holiness ; whilst the govern- 
ing ecclesiastics feast and riot in delicious ban- 
quets, ride in state with coach of four and six, 
attended by numerous servants in costly liveries ; 
and earth and sea is ransacked, and heaven itself 
profaned, to maintain their luxury and pride. 
How closely those men in England calling them- 
selves Protestant and Christian bishops pursue 
their practices, I shall leave my reader to deter- 
mine, and hasten to shew, in the next chapter, that 
this artificial devotion, this mechanical religion, 
has no existence in Christianity. 



63 



CHAP. VI. 



EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION INCONSISTENT WITH THE 
GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 

I cannot with my best inquiry discover, that, in 
the whole Christian religion, there are any new 
rites or ceremonies appointed, or any new offices 
erected. Nor in the Gospels, Acts, or Epistles, 
does any thing like a new institution occur, ex- 
cept that of deacons; which office, by modern 
Christians of established churches, is quite laid 
aside, unless it may be said to be revived by virtue 
of the Act of Queen Elizabeth, which appoints 
overseers of the poor. For as to the modern eccle- 
siastical deacon, he has no resemblance to the 
scripture officer, who was appointed to serve 
tables, upon complaint of the Grecian widows, 
who were neglected in the daily administration, 
which the apostles were not at leisure to attend, 
because " of the preaching of the word," and 
therefore directed the congregation to choose 
others. # 

* Acts, vi. 



64 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

I shall now inquire how the world came to 
be blessed with such a long train of spiritual 
equipage, and see what can be found in the 
Scriptures to warrant or countenance their present 
pretensions. It is to be observed, that promulgation 
is of the essence of a law, which cannot be with- 
out plainness and perspicuity. It must not be 
expressed in doubtful and equivocal terms. It 
must not depend upon critical learning or different 
readings ; nor receive its explanation from the 
mysterious gibberish and unintelligible jargon of 
the schools ; but ought to be such, as a plain, 
open, simple-hearted, sincere man may easily 
discover amidst the numerous and contradictory 
schemes of interested ecclesiastics. 

Weak and corrupt men may, through ignorance 
or design, frame and enact laws obscure and unin- 
telligible ; but the Almighty cannot intend to mis- 
lead his creatures, nor can He be deficient in 
proper words to express his meaning. Even such 
human laws as enact penalties, or restrain the 
natural liberty of mankind, are always construed 
strictly, and extended no farther than the letter 
expressly warrants ; and it is much more reason- 
able, that it should be so understood in divine 
laws, upon which the temporal and eternal happi- 
ness of the world depends ; not only because of 
the vast importance of the subject, but as there 
can be no unwary omission or defect in words 
chosen by the Holy Ghost. We may therefore 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 65 

rest assured, that whatever is not expressed in 
Scripture, in language plain and clear to common 
understandings, was not intended for our instruc- 
tion, nor can it become a duty. 

With our eyes thus cleared up, we will view 
those texts and parts of Holy Writ, brought together 
to support this unwieldy fabric. And here I must 
anticipate, that my reader will stand amazed, and 
be at a loss which most to reprobate, the stupidity 
and acquiescence of the high church laity, or the 
daring insolence and impiety of their spiritual 
rulers; that without reason, or the appearance of 
reason; without Scripture or the colour of Scripture, 
but directly in defiance of them all, they could 
be able to form so complete an empire over the 
bodies and minds of the greatest part of Christen- 
dom ; rob them of their goods and possessions ; 
make them instruments of their own ruin ; induce 
them to hug their chains, and mortally hate, mur- 
der, or ruin every one who would set them free. 

But before I enter upon a particular disquisition 
of the text produced, I would first inquire what be- 
nefit can accrue to Christianity by such powers in 
the Christian clergy. A Roman judge is honourably 
mentioned by Cicero, for always asking, cui bono ? 
for what end or advantage an alleged action was 
done, by which he could form some judgment 
whether it was done or not; and if done, who did it. 
The same is a reasonable proceeding in this case ; 
for though it is no objection to the truth of what 

F 



66 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

God has said, that it is not agreeable to the senti- 
ments of weak men ; yet, whilst it remains a ques- 
tion whether God has said it or not, there cannot be 
a stronger way of arguing used, than to shew that 
it is unworthy of the Divine wisdom and goodness, 
who can say nothing which is trifling and imperti- 
nent, or make any ordinances that are useless or 
mischievous to his creatures. 

Nothing can come from God but what is god- 
like; and, therefore, when any number of men, 
combining together, dare tell me any thing in his 
name of no use to religion or virtue, and yet of 
apparent advantage to themselves or their order, 
I shall always believe it to be an invention of their 
own, forged to gratify their ambition and avarice, 
and shall ever vindicate the Almighty from the 
imputed calumny. 

I would simply ask, of what use is it to religion 
and virtue, that the clergy should always make one 
another ? Of what importance, whether the imposi- 
tion of hands be esteemed barely a ceremony, to de- 
note a person appointed to an office, or be taken as 
the appointment itself? Whether he be chosen by 
laying on of hands, or by any other ceremony ? Will 
the same person, with the same qualifications, be a 
better man, a better christian, or an abler divine, 
if he receive his orders in a direct line from the 
apostles, through the medium of a popish, high 
church, or presbyterian priesthood, rather than 
from the civil magistrate, or from voluntary 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 67 

societies? Or is it possible to believe that whilst 
he is administering the offices of religion, and doing 
the duties of the gospel, the devout Christian people 
will lose the effects of their piety, and the benefit 
of Christ's promises, from the defect of any cir- 
cumstance, or any omission or superfluity in his 
adoption ; things which they could neither pre- 
vent nor know ? Surely, we have not so learned 
Christ. 

Can we for a moment suppose that Almighty 
God should make such an establishment of Chris- 
tianity, as must eventually destroy religion itself; 
or put it under the sole guidance and direction of 
a society of men who will have a perpetual interest 
to overturn or pervert it, and who have ever done 
so when they had the power ? 

What can be suggested more absurd, than that 
our heavenly Father should send his Son to be the 
great atonement and propitiation for sin, and as a 
divine exemplar to teach virtue and holiness to 
men, to manumit and set them free from the 
superstitions of the Jews, and the idolatries of the 
Gentiles ; who, whilst upon earth, should not only 
disclaim all power and dominion himself, but suffer 
an ignominious death, to free mankind from the 
fetters of a spiritual bondage; and yet subject them 
to a yoke, the most arbitrary and tyrannical in the 
world, without redress, and without remedy; where 
the governors have constant temptations and mo- 
tives to oppress, and the governed but few means to 

f 2 



68 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

resist and oppose ? For no less than this are the 
high-church demands upon us, and the inevitable 
consequences of their wild and pitiful hypothesis. 

If there be an order of men appointed directly by 
God, and having the government of the church by 
divine right, in all things which relate to spirituals, 
i. e. in all things wherein their own interest is con- 
cerned ; if they are to be sole judges of their own 
powers, and what doctrines they are to teach ; if 
the people are to receive them implicitly, and to 
submit to their determinations ; and if no human 
authority must control them, all which, as I believe, 
those whom I write against assert, then it is plain 
that they are possessed of the most despotic, un- 
limited, and uncontrollable sovereignty in the uni- 
verse, and one which must of necessity prove, and 
actually ever has proved, the most cruel and tyran- 
nical in the exercise. 

But if the clergy have not this power, they can 
have none at all, but that which the civil magis- 
trate or voluntary societies entrust to them; for 
what is the nature of a power, of which every man 
is a judge whether he will submit to it or not? Or 
how can that be said to be divine, which the civil 
magistrate can control at his pleasure ? There can be 
no medium in nature between another's judging 
for me, and my judging for myself ; if another is 
to judge for me, I must submit to his determina- 
tions, let them be ever so absurd, monstrous, or 
wicked ; but if I have a right to re-examine them, 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 69 

they can amount to no more than advice, and my own 
judgment alone must determine my acquiescence. 

As I think I have amply proved that it is incon- 
sistent with the goodness of God to entrust to 
men the powers claimed by the high clergy, so I 
will attempt to prove as fully, that he has, in fact, 
given them no authority at all. 

Indeed, to speak plainly, the clergy do not pre- 
tend to adduce any direct texts to their purpose, ex- 
pressing particularly the powers given to them, and 
the persons in whom they are to be vested, as 
might be reasonably expected in a case so nearly 
affecting the liberties of mankind, and as was ac- 
tually done in the Jewish dispensation, where 
every circumstance relating to divine worship and 
the priest's office was minutely described. In- 
stead of this, they gather up scattered and dis- 
jointed sentences, and place them together to see 
what may be gained from so inconsistent and in- 
coherent an arrangement. They argue from types, 
antitypes, parables, metaphors, allegories, allu- 
sions, inferences, patterns, resemblances, figures, 
and shadows. By such means they draw every 
thing out of every thing. 

The Bible is a miscellaneous book, from which 
crazed and designing men, by references to ancient 
customs, and twenty other theological systems of 
reasoning, may always fetch materials to serve their 
loose or tyrannical purposes. And thus we actually 
find a hundred different, and many of them almost 



70 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

contradictory, religions are pretended to be deduced 
from that book. This is done by joining and dis- 
joining; by various readings; by corrupt or ignorant 
translations ; by far-fetched interpretations ; by 
putting upon words in scripture meanings different 
from what they signify in any other books ; by 
trifling and knavish distinctions ; by metaphysical 
subtilties ; by shifting the significations of words 
as they have occasion ; and by a thousand other dis- 
honest modes of proceeding. If men would be 
contented to judge of the meaning of the scriptures 
by the same rules as they do of other writings ; if 
they could be persuaded that the Almighty, when 
he condescends to make use of human language, 
intends to be understood, and consequently uses 
words in their common acceptation ; that when he 
designed to reveal his will to babes and sucklings, 
i. e. to the ignorant and unlearned, he did not 
chose to do it in riddles, to make way for interpre- 
ters, and that the clergy might have a plea for 
picking the laity's pocket ; then I affirm, that the 
Bible is the plainest, most clear, moral, spiritual, 
significant, and intelligible book in the w T orld, in 
all things in which it is essential for a man, who is 
destined for eternity, to know; and in no part of 
it more so, than in the subject under consideration, 
which has been rendered so perplexed and intricate 
by craft and artifice. 

There is nothing in the four gospels to authorise 
or countenance the union of ecclesiastical and civil 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 71 

power; for as our Saviour disclaimed all worldly 
authority, so he gave none. He neither used nor al- 
lowed the use of force and violence to coerce and 
conquer subjects to his kingdom, which he declared 
was not of this world. As the religion which he 
taught was not to consist in outward actions and 
ceremonies, like the worship of the gentiles, but 
was to reside in the mind, so he chose proper 
means to attain his end. He knew that the sword 
might make hypocrites and slaves, but never con- 
verts ; he therefore instructed his apostles to win 
men's affections by love and gentleness, to allure 
them by example, and convince them by the rea- 
sonableness of his precepts, and he enabled them 
to prove their mission by wonders and miracles. 
All this is directly contrary to the proceedings 
of Mahomet, whose aim was temporal dominion, 
and whose religion was imposture. Violence was 
necessary to propagate both these ; for absurdity 
can in no way be supported but by tyranny, 
while truth can always defend itself, and desires 
nothing but a fair examination, and a free and 
impartial hearing. 

Christ takes every occasion to caution his apostles 
against spiritual pride, and the claiming superiority 
over others, or over one another. The powers 
which he gave them were of another kind, such as 
were suitable to overcome the prejudices of the 
innocent and well-meaning, though misled, people; 
and to confound the malice and subtilty of the 



72 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

governing priesthood, viz. a power against un- 
clean spirits, and to cast them out, to heal all 
manner of sickness and all manner of diseases, 
and to raise the dead. Surely we have no pro- 
testant bishop or inferior clergyman in England 
who pretends to these powers. 

Our Lord commands his ministers to provide 
neither silver, nor gold, nor brass, in their pockets ; 
nor scrip for their journey ; neither two coats, nor 
shoes, nor staves ; (much less coaches emblazoned 
with mitres and arms.) I presume few English 
clergymen desire these restricted powers. 

Again, Jesus orders his disciples when they 
come into any house, to salute it, and if the in- 
mates do not receive them ^ and hear their words, 
to depart from that house, and shake off the dust 
from their feet. The popish clergy are for setting 
fire to such a house, and for burning and damning 
every one within it. The protestant priests, not 
for troubling any house with a call, but for their 
fees. 

The apostles' commission in St. Matthew, was 
to preach Christ to all nations ; and in St. Mark, 
to go into all the world and to preach Him to every 
creature. The Protestant bishops seldom preach 
at all. Bishop Latimer says, " there is a gap in 
hell, as wide as from Calais to Dover, full of un- 
preaching prelates . ' ' 

Those who believed in the apostles, and were 
baptized, had the power of casting out devils in 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 73 

Christ's name, and speaking with new tongues. 
They could take up serpents ; no deadly thing 
which they drank could hurt them ; they laid hands 
upon the sick, and they recovered. Those who 
support and believe in the high-church priests are 
the best friends the devil has ; for these clerical 
gentlemen, instead of casting him out, for the 
most part bring him in. They can speak sense 
with no tongue, nor dare venture on any poison 
but what proceeds from gluttony and drunkenness, 
with which they give their votaries diseases, instead 
of recovering them. 

The apostles were to be witnesses of all which 
they had heard or seen, said or done by our 
Saviour ; and who else could be so ? But the 
clergy have no other means of knowing Christ, 
than any layman of equal abilities and equal appli- 
cation; nor have they, generally speaking, any 
greater motives or inducement to preach him, 
except the hire, which, as it first suborned their 
predecessors to betray his person and take away 
his life, so it has ever since been the occasion of 
crucifying him anew, by misrepresenting the spi- 
rituality of his doctrines, and making them subser- 
vient to worldly ambition and interest ; a practice 
too general and universal to require from me any 
illustration. 

Our Saviour himself appointed the seventy dis- 
ciples, whom he sent before him two by two in 
every place where he intended himself to go, and 



74 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

gave them powers almost equal to the powers of 
the apostles, even to heal the sick, to tread on 
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of 
the enemy ; and he declared that nothing should 
hurt them. He was so far from giving any worldly 
authority, that he tells them, he sends them forth 
as lambs among wolves ; that they should carry 
nothing with them ; whatsoever house they came 
into, they were to say, peace to that house, and 
were to eat and drink such things as the people gave 
them ; for the labourer is worthy of his hire. (Tt 
appears that the people were to judge what wages 
and hire they deserved.) If any persons refused to 
receive them, they were to go into the streets and 
shake off the dust of their feet ; which was all the 
excommunication they were directed to use, and 
was nothing more but to leave them to God. 

Whatever is meant by the figurative and ab- 
struse texts of binding and loosing, remitting and 
retaining sins, it is evidently confined to those to 
whom it is spoken, and seems to have relation to 
the other world alone. I would therefore be glad 
to know, by what rules of construction the powers 
now claimed by any order of clergy in the world, 
can be brought from these texts, or in what sense 
any clergyman can be said to be a successor of the 
apostles, more than every layman of equal qualifi- 
cations. 

If our Saviour had intended to have conveyed 
any powers to any man, or set of men, it is im- 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 75 

possible to believe but that he would have ex- 
pressed himself in the fullest and most significant 
words, and have left no doubt as to what those 
powers were, and to whom they belonged. No 
statute enacted among weak mortals is penned so 
loosely, however, as those relied upon by the 
clergy. What lawyer in Westminster-hall could 
have found sovereign power in the precept, " feed 
my sheep" ? or in our Saviour's promise to assist 
the apostles, and certainly all Christians in general, 
in these words, " I will be with you to the end of 
the world" ? 

The priests of Delphos, uttering their oracles, 
for the most part, in sorry balderdash poetry, gave 
rise to a jest among the ancients, that Homer could 
write better verses than Apollo, who inspired him. 
But surely no Christian man could be found so 
profane as to give occasion to the suggestion, that 
the attorney-general can draw up a clearer and 
more intelligible commission than the apostles ! 

But, though there is nothing in the gospels to jus- 
tify or excuse the priestly demands upon the laity, 
there are many texts expressly against them, in 
which our Saviour disclaims all authority over men, 
and forbids his disciples and followers to assume 
superiority over their brethren, or to censure, judge, 
or use any one ill, for not receiving, or for oppos- 
ing them. 

In St. Luke, chap. xii. ver. 13., a man desires of 
our Lord to speak to his brother to divide his in- 



76 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

heritance with him; and his answer is, "Who 
made me a judge or a divider over you?" In St. 
John, chap. xii. ver. 47, 48, our Saviour declares, if 
any man hear his words and believes not, that he 
will not judge him ; for he came not to judge the 
world, but to save the world ; and in the next 
verse he leaves him to the judgment of the Father, 
and tells him what will be his doom. In St. John, 
chap, xviii. ver. 36, also, Christ was brought before 
Pilate for speaking treason against Csesar, and 
claiming the temporal kingdom of Judea ; but he 
took that occasion to renounce all earthly sove- 
reignty, by declaring his kingdom not to be of this 
world, and gave his reason for it, which so satis- 
fied the Roman governor, ever jealous of his mas- 
ter's authority, that he pronounced him innocent, 
and would gladly have released him if the Jewish 
priests would have suffered it. 

In St. Matthew, also, chap. vii. ver. 1,2,3, Jesus 
says to his disciples, " Judge not, lest ye be 
judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall 
be judged; and what measure ye meet shall be 
measured to you again, &c." In St. Luke, chap, 
ix. ver. 53, James and John desired of him that they 
might command fire from heaven to punish the 
Samaritans for not receiving him ; to which he was 
so far from consenting, that he sharply reproves 
them for it, and tells them, "Ye know not what 
spirit ye are of, for the Son of man is not come to 
destroy the world, but to save the world." In the 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 77 

same chapter, John said to him, " Master, we saw 
one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade 
him, because he followeth not us. And Jesus said, 
forbid him not, for he that is not against us, is for 
us." A beautiful and plain precept, for Christians 
to tolerate one another. 

Through the whole 18th chapter of St. Matthew, 
our Saviour exhorts his disciples to be humble, and 
to forgive offences. And in the 15th verse, he tells 
them, "If thy brother trespass against thee, go 
and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ; 
but if he will not hear thee, take one or two more 
with thee, &c. And if he shall neglect to hear 
them, tell it to the church, or congregation ; and if 
he neglect to hear the church, let him be to thee 
like a heathen or a publican," i.e. have no more to 
do with him. In the following verses he shews 
them what a church is ; viz. ' ' Where two or three 
are gathered together in my name, there am I in 
the midst of them." Will an English bishop allow 
that the presence of Christ shall be effectual to 
constitute a complete church, though a parson be 
not of the company ? I leave them to make their 
own reply. 

Indeed, the whole New Testament is a lesson of 
faith and morality, of humility, humanity, and 
charity. The sermon upon the mount breathes the 
most refined ethics ; and we everywhere meet with 
precepts and cautions against pride and domination. 
In the 23rd chapter of Matthew our Lord spake to 



78 EPISCOPAL POWER AND USURPATION 

the multitude, and to his disciples, bidding them not 
to be called master, " For one," says he, " is your 
master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren ; but 
he that is greatest amongst you shall be your ser- 
vant ; whoever exalts himself shall be abased, and 
he that shall humble himself shall be exalted," In 
St. Luke, chap. xx. ver. 46, he warns his disciples 
to beware of the Scribes, who desire to walk in long 
robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the 
highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief 
places at feasts (Hear, O ye bishops, priests, and 
deacons!), who devour widows' houses, and for a 
show make long prayers. 

In St. Luke, chap. xxii. ver. 24, 25, 26, there 
was a strife among the apostles, which should be 
the greatest. "And Jesus said unto them, the 
kings of the Gentiles exercise authority over them ; 
and they that exercise authority upon them, are 
called benefactors. But ye shall not be so ; but 
he that is greatest amongst you, let him be as the 
younger; and he that is chief, as he that does 
serve." The same is found in Matthew, chap. xx. 
ver. 25, 26, 27, and he enforces this precept in the 
28th verse, from his own conduct: " Even as the 
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister." 

Our blessed Lord did not, like others, preach 
doctrines to his disciples which he refused to prac- 
tise, but taught them modesty and humility by his 
own example ; for in the 13th chapter of John we 



INCONSISTENT WITH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 79 

find he washes their feet himself, and bids them 
wash one another's. Alas ! how different is the 
character and conduct of Christ and his apostles 
from the proud and lofty spirit of his pretended 
successors ! My readers will be satisfied of this by 
their own experience, without any further remark 
of mine. 



80 



CHAP. VII. 



BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS, ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 

Ordination to the office of a bishop, did not ori- 
ginally differ from the ordination of a presbyter. 
No power was conveyed to a bishop, from which 
presbyters were secluded ; nor was there any quali- 
fication required in the office of the one, that was 
not required in the other. Timothy was not, 
properly speaking, a bishop. He was ordained by 
the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. # We 
have already shewn, that the original of the order 
of bishops, was from the presbyters choosing one 
from among themselves, to be stated president in 
their assemblies, and this, perhaps, first occurred 
about the third century. Jerome declares, once 
and again, that in the days of the apostles, bishops 
and presbyters were the same ; that as low as his 
time, the bishops had gained no superior authority, 
but ordination. And Chrysostom andTheophylact 
affirm, that while the apostles lived, and for some 

* 1 Tim. iv. 14. 



BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS, &C 81 

ages after, the name of bishops and presbyters 
were not distinguished. 

The authority of that very ancient copy of the 
Bible, now in the British Museum, sent by Cyrillus, 
Patriarch of Alexandria, to King Charles I., being 
all written in capital Greek letters, was vouched and 
asserted by Sir Simon D'Ewes, a great antiquary, 
and in this, the postcript to the epistles to Timothy 
and Titus are only thus : — " This first to Timothy, 
written from Laodicea : — to Titus, from Nicopolis." 
Hence, the critic infers that the styling of Ti- 
mothy and Titus, first bishops of Ephesus and Crete, 
were the spurious additions of some eastern bishop 
or monk, at least five hundred years after Christ.* 

It is also clear that presbyters may ordain with- 
out a bishop. The author of the Comment on the 
Ephesians, which goes under the name of St. Am- 
brose, says that in Egypt the presbyters ordain, if 
the bishops be not present ; so also does Augustine 
in the same words ; and the chorepiscopus, who 
was only a presbyter, had power to impose hands, 
and to ordain within his precincts, with the bishop's 
licence. Indeed, further, the presbyters of the city 
of Alexandria, with the bishop's leave, might or- 
dain, as appears from Con. Ancyr. Carit. 3, where 
it is said, it is not lawful for chorepiscopi to ordain 
presbyters or deacons ; nor for the presbyters of 
the city, in another parish, without the bishop's 
letter ; which evidently implies, that they might do 

* See Rushworth, vol. iv. p. 284. 
G 



82 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 

so with the bishop's letter, and perhaps without it, 
in their own parish. 

Firmilianus says of those who rule in the church, 
whom he calls seniores et propositi, i. e. presbyters 
as well as bishops, that they had the power of 
baptizing, and of laying on hands in ordaining. 

Archbishop Usher informs us, in his Letter to Dr. 
Bernard, " I have ever delivered my opinion to be, 
that episcopus et presbyter gradu tantum differunt, non 
or dine, and consequently, that in places were 
bishops cannot be had, the ordination by presby- 
ters stands valid ; but the ordination made by such 
presbyters as have severed themselves from those 
bishops to whom they have sworn canonical obe- 
dience, I cannot excuse from being schismatical. I 
think that churches which have no bishops are de- 
fective in their government ; yet, for the justifying 
my communion with them whom I do love and 
honour as true members of the church universal, I 
do profess, if I were in Holland, I should receive the 
blessed sacrament at the hands of the Dutch, with 
the like affection as I should from the hands of the 
French ministers were I at Charenton." The same 
bishop, in his answer to Mr. Baxter, informs us, that 
the king having asked him at the Isle of Wight, 
whether he found in antiquity that presbyters alone 
ordained any ? he replied, yes ; and that he could 
shew his Majesty more, even where presbyters alone 
successively ordained bishops than otherwise, and 
instanced, in Jerome's words, {Epist. ad Evagrium,) 



ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 83 

of the presbyters of Alexandria choosing and 
making their own bishops from the days of Mark 
till Heraclus and Dionysius. # 

That bishops and presbyters were originally the 
same, was the opinion even of Bancroft himself; 
for when Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Ely, moved that 
the Scotch bishops elect might first be ordained 
presbyters, in the year 1610, Bancroft replied, 
there was no need of it, since ordination by pres- 
byters was valid ; upon which the said bishop con- 
curred in their consecration. And yet lower, when 
the Archbishop of Spalato was in England, he 
desired bishop Moreton to re-ordain a person who 
had been ordained beyond sea, that he might be 
more capable of preferment ; to which the bishop 
replied, it could not be done but to the scandal of 
the reformed churches, in which he would have no 
hand. The same prelate adds, in his Apol. Cathol., 
that to ordain was the jus antiquum of presbyters. 
To these may be added the testimony of bishop 
Burnet, whose words are these : "As for the 
notion of distinct offices of bishop and presbyter, 
I confess it is not so clear to me ; and, therefore, 
since I look upon the sacramental actions as the 
highest of sacred performances, I cannot but 
acknowledge that those who are empowered with 
them, must be of the highest office of the church. "f 

It may further be proved from the writings of 

* See Baxter's Life, p. 206. 
t V indication of the Church of Scotland, p. 336. 
G 2 



84 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 

the learned Dr. Reynolds, of Oxford, and others, 
that only two orders of church officers are of divine 
appointment, viz. bishops and deacons ; and that 
the superiority of bishops above presbyters was 
of human appointment, and did not take place for 
several centuries after the introduction of the 
church of Christ. Aerius declares and maintains 
that, " there ought to be no difference between a 
priest and a bishop ;" and though Epiphanius en- 
deavours to disprove this, his arguments are so 
weak, that even Bellarmine, the popish champion, 
confesses that the arguments are not agreeable to 
the text ; and though St. Austin, in his book of 
heresies, ascribes this opinion to Aerius for one, 
because it condemned the order of the Romish 
church and created a schism, yet it is a different 
thing to say, that by the word of God there is no 
difference between bishop and presbyter, and to say 
that it is by the order and custom of the popish 
church, which is all that St. Austin means. When 
Harding, the papist, alleged these very witnesses to 
prove that the opinion of bishops and priests being 
of the same order, was heresy, our learned bishop 
Jewel quoted to the contrary, Chrysostom, Jerome, 
Ambrose, and St. Austin himself ; and concluded 
his answer with these words : " all these, and other 
more holy fathers, together with the apostle Paul, 
for thus saying, by Harding's advice, must be held 
for heretics." 

Michael Medina, a man of great repute in the 



ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 85 

" Council of Trent," adds to the above testimonies, 
Theodorus, Primarius, Sedulius, Theophylact, with 
whom agree Oecumenius, the Greek scholiast, 
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, Gregory, and 
Gratian. Besides, all that have laboured in reform- 
ing the church, for about 800 years, have taught 
that all pastors, be they entitled bishops or priests, 
have equal authority and power by God's word. 
This was first taught by the Waldenses, next by 
Marsilius Patavinus, then by Wickliff and his 
scholars, afterwards by Huss and his followers ; 
again by Luther, Calvin, Brentius, Bullinger, 
Musculus; then by other learned men, as Brad- 
ford, Lambert, Jewel, Pilkington, Humphreys, 
Fulke, and others ; and it is the common judg- 
ment of the reformed churches of Helvetia, Savoy, 
France, Scotland, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the 
Low Countries, and now of our own. 

Dr. Reynolds, again adverting to Dr. Bancroft's 
sermon of January 12th, 1588, in which he main- 
tains that St. Jerome and Calvin had confessed, that 
bishops have had superiority over presbyters ever 
since the time of St. Mark the Evangelist, says, as 
to Dr. Bancroft's saying that Jerome, and Calvin 
from him, confessed that bishops have had the 
same superiority ever since the time of St. Mark the 
Evangelist, I think him mistaken, because neither 
Jerome says it, nor does Calvin seem to confess it 
on his report. Bishops among us may do many 
other things, besides ordaining and laying on 



86 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 

of hands, which inferior ministers and priests may 
not ; whereas St. Jerome says, " what does a bishop 
except ordination, which a priest does not ?" mean- 
ing that in his time bishops had only that power 
above priests, which Chrysostom also remarks in 
Homily II. on 1 Timothy. Nor had they this 
privilege alone in all places, for in the Council of 
Carthage it is said, that, "the priests laid their 
hands, together with the bishops, # on those who 
were ordained.' ' And St. Jerome having proved by 
scripture, that in the time of the Apostles, bishops 
and priests were all one, yet grants that afterwards 
bishops had that peculiar to themselves in some 
places ; but proves nothing else, so that St. Jerome 
does not say concerning the superiority in question, 
that bishops have had it ever since St. Mark's time. 
Nor, indeed, does Calvin confess it ; he says, that 
in old time ministers chose one out of their com- 
pany in every city, to whom they gave the title of 
bishop ; yet the bishop was not above them in 
honour and dignity; but, as consuls in the senate, 
propose matters, ask their opinions, direct others 
by giving advice, by admonishing, by exhorting, 
and so guide the whole action, and by their autho- 
rity see that performed which was agreed on by 
common consent. The same charge had the bishop 
in the assembly of ministers ; and having shewn 
from St. Jerome that this was brought in by con- 
sent of men, he adds, that, " it was an ancient order 

* See Strype's Life of Whitgift. 



ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 87 

of the church even from St. Mark ;" from whence 
it is apparent, that the order of the church he 
mentions, has relation to that in which he affirms 
that, "the bishop was not so above the rest in 
honour, as to have rule over them." It therefore 
follows, that Calvin does not even appear to ac- 
knowledge the report of St. Jerome. 

But what is still more to the purpose, the scrip- 
tures mention only two orders of offices in the 
church, viz. bishops and deacons ; Philip, i. 1. 
" Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus 
Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are 
at Philippi, with the bishops and deacon kmo-Honou 
ytot\ WKovofr." The name, office, and work of a 
bishop and presbyter are the same ; as in Titus i. 
5, 7, &c. " For this cause left I thee in Crete, that 
thou shouldest set in order the things that are 
wanting, and ordain elders (Tt^^vripov;) in every 
city, as I had appointed thee. For a bishop (iTr/axoTrov) 
must be blameless, &c." Acts xx. 28, &c. " Take 
heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the 
flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you 
overseers (iTncncoWr) &c." 1 Peter v. 1, 2, &c. 
"The elders (7rpE(T/3uTepow) which are among you I 
exhort, who am also an elder J%^a^>6r Epos) &c." As 
the apostles were extraordinary officers, so were 
Timothy and Titus, viz. evangelists, but neither 
of them, as before said, are called bishops in scrip- 
ture, much less were they fixed to Ephesus or 
Crete, but travelled up and down to establish 



88 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS 

churches in several countries. In the same order of 
officers there was not any one superior to another, 
— no apostle above an apostle, no presbyter above 
a presbyter, nor one deacon above another. 

The angels of the churches in the Apocalypse are 
never called bishops, nor is the word used in any 
of St. John's writings ; he calls himself a presbyter, 
from whence we perceive the identity of these 
offices in scripture, and the equality of the officers. 

From what has been said, it is clear that the 
governing of the church belongs to the presbyters 
as much as to the bishops. This also is the more 
evident from the two words used in the Acts of 
the Apostles, and the epistle of St. Peter, Tro^aivsTv 
and iTno-xotfelv, under the force of which the bishops 
claim their whole right of government and juris- 
diction ; and when the apostle Paul was taking 
leave of the Ephesian presbyters and bishops, he 
commits the government of the church, not to 
Timothy who was then with him, but to the pres- 
byters under the name of bishops made by the 
Holy Ghost. 

Hence it may be fairly concluded, that bishops 
and presbyters are only two names of the same 
order. The obscurity of church history, in the 
times succeeding the apostles, might, indeed, in- 
duce the catalogue-makers to take up their suc- 
cession upon report ; and it is a blemish to their 
evidence, that the nearer they come to the days of 
the apostles, the more doubtful and contradictory 



ORIGINALLY THE SAME ORDER. 89 

are they. Human testimony on church officers 
ought to be discharged, and the determination be by 
scripture only. And here we shall find no distinction 
between bishop and presbyter, and no mention of 
archbishops, archdeacons, deans, chancellors, and 
the modern host of officials ; but simply bishops 
and deacons. 

I have already shewn that Timothy and Titus 
were evangelists, i. e. not fixed to one place, but 
travelling with the apostles, from one country to 
another, to plant churches. The account of their 
travels may be sketched from the Acts of the 
Apostles, and from the epistles of St. Paul. The 
apostles could no more part with their power of 
governing than they could with their apostleship. 
Had they set up bishops in all churches, they had no 
more parted with their power of governing than in 
setting up presbyters ; presbyters being called rulers, 
governors, and bishops. Nor could the apostle 
be reasonably supposed to commit the government 
of the church of Ephesus to the presbyters, when 
he was taking his last farewell of them, and yet 
reserve the power of governing in ordinary to him- 
self. It would be very unaccountable if there had 
been two sorts of bishops, — one over presbyters, and 
the other over the flock, — that there should be no 
mention, no mark or trace of difference, no distinct 
method of ordination by which they might be dis- 
tinguished throughout the whole compass of the 
New Testament. 



90 BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS, &C. 

To assert, then, that the scriptures assign any 
particular work or duty to a bishop that is not 
common to a presbyter, is to affirm without 
evidence. There is, indeed, a succession in the 
work of teaching and governing ; but none in com- 
mission or office by which the apostles performed 
them. A succession may be in the same work, 
but there is not to the commission ; nor can any 
such scripture be produced to warrant the division 
of the office of teaching and governing to two per- 
sons : it is solely an interested invention of men to 
obtain the power to themselves. 

Let my countrymen remember that to add to 
the religion of Christ is sinful, and to enforce ob- 
servance or respect to these additions by penalties, 
is to exercise a forbidden jurisdiction in the 
church. It is our duty, therefore, to make a bold 
and vigorous stand against all usurpation and 
arbitrary power ; and he who is as tenacious of his 
religious, as he is of his civil liberty, will oppose 
both with equal spirit and equal firmness. 



91 



CHAP. VIII. 



THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 

Since all the most idle and visionary pretences of 
the Roman and English high clergy have their 
ends, and their danger, and therefore should be 
narrowly watched and vigorously opposed, I shall 
inquire into the validity of a principal claim of 
their's ; I mean that of uninterrupted succession. 
We will endeavour to find whether there is any 
foundation to support this corner-stone of their 
authority except in their own imaginations. 

A man might reasonably imagine that a doctrine 
of so much importance to the temporal and eternal 
state of all mankind, should be expressly laid down, 
and fully explained in the holy Scriptures, to pre- 
vent all possibility of mistake about it. But in- 
stead of this, the thing, as far as I remember, is 
not once mentioned there, nor any thing equi- 
valent to it; so that we are under a necessity 
of recurring to the clergy themselves for informa- 
tion. And here, too, we are as much bewildered as 



92 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 

before, for some of them boldly assert it, and others 
flatly deny it. 

Besides, those who hate and damn one another, 
claim it equally to themselves, and deny it to all 
others. Those who are successors to the apostles 
in England, disown their brother successors beyond 
the Tweed and about the Lake ; and they theirs at 
Greece and Armenia, as well as every where else. 
Now, all these who so confidently assume the suc- 
cessorship to themselves alone, are as opposite to 
each other in sentiments and worship as light is to 
darkness. They cannot, therefore, all have it; 
and if only one has it, how shall we know who he 
is? No man's testimony ought to be taken in 
his own case ; and if we take that of other people, 
there are twenty to one against them all. 

If the clergy of the church of England, as by 
law established, be, of all the reformed, supposed 
to enjoy this line of entail entire to themselves, 
pray how came they by it ? Not from the Reforma- 
tion, which began not till near fifteen centuries 
after the apostles were dead ; and Cranmer owned 
ordination then to be no more than a civil appoint- 
ment to an ecclesiastical office. It is certain, that at 
that time, this Utopian succession was not so much 
as thought of by any who embraced the Protestant 
religion. At present, indeed, and for a good while 
past, the high clergy contend for it with equal mo- 
desty and truth. But in order to adopt it, they are 
forced to pass over the Reformation. 



OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 93 

This same succession is now deduced from Rome, 
and the pope has had the keeping of it, who is 
held, by all who adhere to the Reformation, to be 
Antichrist and the man of sin. This pope has fre- 
quently been an Atheist, often an adulterer, often 
a murderer, always an usurper, and his church has 
constantly lived in gross idolatry, and subsisted by 
ignorance, frauds, rapine, cruelty, and all the 
blackest vices. It is certain she was full of wick- 
edness and abomination, and void of all goodness 
and virtue, but that of having kept the apostolic 
orders pure and undefiled for our modern high 
churchmen. However, I think they themselves 
appear to be sensible that it will be a difficult 
matter to make out, in this way, their kindred to 
the apostles, without being nearer akin to popery. 
These churchmen are, therefore, forced to own the 
church of Rome to be a true church. Nor ought 
we to be surprised if, in succeeding to the orders 
of that church, they also succeed to most of her 
good qualities. I confess it would look a little 
absurd if, among we laymen, any one should 
gravely assert, that, though Lais was so filthy a 
strumpet that no virtuous woman would converse 
with her, yet that she was, for all that, a true 
virgin, and that all chastity was derived from her ! 

But such absurdities as these go for nothing 
among some sort of ecclesiastics. We will, there- 
fore, inquire what it is which the clergy would 
succeed to. The apostles had no ambition, juris- 



94 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 

diction, dignities, or revenues, to which they could 
be successors. We do not, in scripture, read one 
word of ecclesiastical princes, popes, patriarchs, 
primates, and a host of officials. On the contrary, 
our Saviour himself declares that his kingdom is 
not of this world. When the young man in the 
gospeP asked of him what he should do to obtain 
eternal life ? he answered, that, beside keeping the 
commandments, he should sell all that he had, and 
give to the poor. Christ did not bid the young 
man give one penny to the priests. 

In the twentieth chapter of the same gospel, our 
Saviour takes notice to his disciples, that the princes 
of this world exercise dominion over them ; " but," 
says he, "it shall not be so amongst you; but 
whosoever will be great amongst you, let him be 
your minister ; and whoever will be chief, let him 
be your servant." Nay, he says, "that even the 
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
minister." In the twenty- third chapter he con- 
demns the Scribes and Pharisees for loving the 
uppermost rooms, and the chief seats in the syna- 
gogue, and their desiring to be called of men, 
Rabbi ; and he forbids all this pride to his disciples 
as well as to his casual hearers, and orders them 
not to call one another, Master; "for," says 
he, " one is your master, even Christ, and he that 
is greatest among you shall be your servant." Nor 

* Matt. xix. 16. 



OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 95 

do I find that while he was upon earth, he laid 
claim to any power but to do the will of Him that 
sent him. Indeed, after his resurrection, he tells 
his disciples that all power is given to him in heaven 
and in earth ; and he bids them teach all nations, 
and baptize them in the name of the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost ; but he does not give 
them the least power or dominion of any kind 
whatever. It is plain, too, that his disciples under- 
stood him so. St. Paul tells the Corinthians, in 
the first chapter of his second epistle to them, that 
he and his fellow-apostles had not dominion over 
their faith, but were helpers of their joy. In the 
fourth chapter of the same epistle, he tells them, 
that they preach not themselves, but Christ Jesus 
the Lord, and themselves their servants for Jesus' 
sake. In the third chapter of the first epistle to 
the Corinthians, he admonishes them not to glory 
in man, — no, not in himself, nor Apollos, nor Ce- 
phas ; and tells the people, that even the apostles 
themselves and all things are their's, and they are 
Christ's, and Christ is God's. In the ninth 
chapter he tells them, that though he is free from 
all men, yet he has made himself servant unto all, 
that he might gain the more. St. Peter, also, in 
the fifth chapter of his first epistle, exhorts the 
elders to feed the flock of Christ, and to take the 
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly ; 
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; neither 



96 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 

as being lords over God's heritage, but as being 
examples to the flock. 

These elders were either clergymen or not. If 
they were clergymen, their pretended successors 
may see upon what terms they are to be feeders 
and overseers of the flock of Christ. But if they 
were only laymen, then it is plain that no other 
qualifications were necessary to a spiritual shep- 
herd, than a willing, disinterested, and humble 
mind ; and all subjection is, in the fifth verse, 
commanded to be reciprocal : — li Likewise, ye 
younger, submit yourselves unto the elder : yea, all of 
you be subject one to another, and be clothed with 
humility ; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth 
grace to the humble." I confess that I am not 
master enough of any language to find words more 
expressive, or Which can more fully renounce all 
sorts of jurisdiction and dominion than those in the 
passages which I have here quoted ; and nothing 
can be more ridiculous, as well as impious, than 
to oppose them with equivocal, doubtful, and 
figurative expressions. If the popish priests could 
but find out one such clear text on their side, how 
would they exult upon it ! 

It is clear that the apostles understood our 
Saviour in this sense ; and it is evident that the 
first Christians had not the least apprehension that 
the apostles claimed any power or authority to 
themselves. They were poor men, of mean, or at 



OF THE CLERGY REFUTED. 97 

least of mechanical professions, who left fathers, 
mothers, children, families, trades, and renounced 
all the good things of this world, to wander about 
and preach Christ. Their disinterestedness and 
sufferings were powerful arguments for the truth 
of their doctrines. Had the apostles told their 
hearers, in the modern high-church strain, that, 
" as soon as they became their converts, they 
became also their spiritual subjects ; — that they 
themselves were ecclesiastical princes, and that 
spiritual government was as much more excellent 
than the civil, as heaven was to earth, indeed more 
so ;— that the episcopal honour and sublime dig- 
nity could not be equalled by the glory of kings 
and the diadems of princes ; — that kings and 
queens ought to bow down to the priests, with 
their faces towards the earth, and lick up the dust of 
their feet; — that they had a right not only to the 
tenth part of their estates, but of their labour; 
and that since they (their hearers) administered so 
many things to a king, who administers peace and 
war for bodily safety, they ought to administer 
more liberally to those who administer the priest- 
hood towards God, and thus secure both body and 
soul by their prayers," — then, indeed, there would 
have been some pretence for their claims. But 
they have not ; though such blasphemous doctrine 
has been vended by Hicks, Leslie, and almost all 
the high church writers, and never publicly cen- 
sured or disapproved by any convocation or body 



98 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION, &C. 

of clergy, although the greatest enmity has been 
shewn towards those who have asserted contrary 
principles. 

Besides, if such language as this had been pro- 
pagated at the first opening of the gospel, what 
progress could Christianity have made ? How 
could the apostles have been disinterested wit- 
nesses of the truth of the doctrines which gave 
them such jurisdiction, dominion, and riches ? 
And how justly would the princes and powers of 
the earth have punished such usurpations upon 
their civil and ecclesiastical authority ! The silence 
of the enemies to Christianity is a sufficient confu- 
tation of this wicked and black calumny, cast upon 
them by their pretended successors, but with 
which their bitterest opposers had more modesty 
than to charge them, though they ransacked earth 
and hell for all other sort s of scandal. 



99 



CHAP. IX. 



THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, 
CONCLUDED. 



Dr. Tillotson, in his Sermon against Transubstan- 
tiation, tells us, that it might well seem strange 
if any man should write a book to prove that an 
egg is not an elephant, and that a musket-bullet is 
not a pike. He might have added, that this was the 
hard circumstance to which the laity were reduced 
in their disputes about religion with most sets 
of ecclesiastics ; and what is still worse, that when 
they had proved these propositions, they were never 
the better. 

The greatest part of mankind have learned to 
judge of religious matters by other faculties and 
senses than those which God has given them. The 
first thing they are taught is, that reason may be 
on one side of the question, and truth on the 
other : which maxim being well established, there 
will be an end of all reasoning ever after. There 
can be no longer any criterion of truth and false- 
hood ; but those who, by education and custom, 

h2 



100 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 

have once got possession of the superstition and 
fears of the people, may impose upon them what 
crafty and advantageous doctrines they please. 
By these means the Christian religion, most easy 
and intelligible in itself, and adapted to the meanest 
capacities, is become in most countries a meta- 
physical science, made up of useless sublimities 
and insignificant distinctions, calculated to gratify 
the pride of corrupt clergymen, by making them 
admired and reverenced by the people for their 
profound knowledge and deep learning. Religion 
is consequently wholly left to their care and con- 
duct, as being infinitely above poor lay appre- 
hensions ; and to this the world is beholden for the 
depravation of virtue and morality, and for all the 
domination, pomp, and riches of the popish priest- 
hood. 

I hope no one will condemn an undertaking in- 
tended to restore Christianity to its primitive inno- 
cence and native simplicity; to oppose common 
sense against pompous nonsense, and learned ab- 
surdity ; and to shew how, and in what meaning, 
the kingdom of heaven is said to be revealed to 
babes and sucklings, while it is hidden from the 
learned and wise. That is, it is easily learned 
and known by those who make use of their gra- 
ciously-assisted natural faculties and uncorrupted 
reason ; but will always be hidden from such who 
hunt after it in the schools of the philosophers, or in 
any ambitious and factious assemblies and synods 



OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, CONCLUDED. 101 

of popish ecclesiastics. I shall aim to keep this 
plain and easy subject clear of all vain philosophy 
and metaphysical gibberish, with which the adver- 
saries always attempt to entangle it ; as knowing 
well, that if they can but make it unintelligible, 
their authority will decide every question in their 
own favour. 

I have already shewn that the apostles claimed 
no jurisdiction, authority, or coercive power, of any 
kind, over their hearers, but only obeyed the 
will of their Divine Master in delivering a message 
from heaven for the infinite benefit of mankind. 
To prove their mission they brought their creden- 
tials, viz. the power of working miracles. This 
miraculous power died with them, however, and 
the power and right they possessed to perform the 
duties and offices of Christianity, did not descend 
to one Christian more than to another, but all 
were equally empowered to exercise alike the 
functions of their most holy religion. 

When a command is given from God to men to 
perform any action, it is not only the right of every 
one, but it becomes his duty to execute it himself, 
when he is capable of doing so. Whoever asserts 
the contrary, is obliged to prove it ; and he must 
not be surprised if, in a case of this great conse- 
quence, we should expect plain and direct texts, 
describing the extent of the power demanded, and 
the persons to whom it is given. It will not be 
enough to collect two or three scattered and dis- 



102 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 

jointed sentences, and, putting them on the rack, 
torture them till they confess what they never 
meant, and what is against the whole current of 
scripture. It must be laid down plainly and directly, 
and be made obvious to the meanest capacities; 
not depending upon the criticisms of rabbinical 
learn'ng; not sublimated from Jewish and Heathen 
traditions ; nor extorted from doubtful, equivocal, 
and unintelligible expressions. It is not consistent 
with the goodness of God to suffer a power, upon 
which the being of Christianity and the temporal 
and eternal happiness of the world depend, to re- 
main in obscurity and darkness ; and, therefore, 
we may be sure that whatever of this kind does 
so, is the invention of ambitious and wicked men, 
and not the will of the. great, the good, and the 
merciful God. 

It will be incumbent on them to shew one clear 
and direct text, where our Saviour confines the 
administration of the sacraments to any set of men 
whatsoever. But the contrary of this is so evi- 
dent, that there is not, in scripture, one instance 
where the sacrament of our Lord's supper was 
ever administered by any one who, in our transla- 
tion of the New Testament, is styled bishop or 
presbyter. And it is as plain that the right of 
baptizing belonged equally to all Christians. 

But to proceed with my subject.— If a chain of 
uninterrupted succession had been necessary, an 
uninterrupted course of talents, graces, and abi- 



OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, CONCLUDED, 103 

lities, superior to those of all other lay-christians, 
had been necessary also to have made the clergy 
resemble those whom they were to succeed in an 
employment which required the highest. But there 
is no such peculiar genius or virtue found amongst 
them. They are qualified by means evidently 
human for this divine calling. They are sent to 
schools and universities to learn to be successors 
to the apostles, and, to use DodwelPs remarks on 
the Jewish priests, " they make use of wine, 
amongst other bodily helps, to obtain the prophetic 
spirit." All men, who have the same sense and 
opportunities, thrive, at least, as fast as those who 
are candidates for the priesthood. They might, if 
they pleased, apply their learning to the same uses. 
And as to grace, piety, and humanity, I think the 
modesty of the clergy will not allow them to pre- 
tend to excel their lay-friends in these endow- 
ments. 

The apostles were inspired, had the gift of work- 
ing miracles, could bestow the Holy Ghost, and had 
the discernment of spirits. They were, consequently, 
proper judges of the fitness of men for the minis- 
try. Our modern divines are not inspired, cannot 
work miracles, nor give the Holy Ghost ; many of 
them cannot even find out their own spirit, much 
less can they discern the spirit of other people. 

The apostles were a set of extraordinary persons, 
appointed by the Son of God to convert all nations, 



104 THE UNINTERRUPTED SUCCESSION 

and they had extraordinary endowments given to 
them for that end. Their pretended successors are 
a race of very ordinary men, possessed of no ex- 
traordinary abilities, are sent by no divine authority, 
but take up preaching as a respectable professional 
vocation, to obtain a livelihood. 

Minellius and Gronovius have written notes 
upon Virgil and Livy ; but are they, for that rea- 
son, successors to Virgil and Livy ? And are the 
stupid commentators successors to the great Roman 
orator because they have slept over his works, and 
darkened them with illustrations ? Is every one 
who sails to America for gain, a successor to Co- 
lumbus, who discovered and pointed out the way 
to the new world ? What must the Jews have 
thought of a set of hair-brained Israelites, who 
would have demanded of them vast respect and 
revenues for succeeding Moses in redeeming them 
from captivity to Pharaoh, and for leading them, 
every day of their lives, out of the land of Egypt, 
eighteen hundred years after they had left it ? Or 
could any number of Jews succeed Nehemiah in 
bringing back the captive tribes from Persia and 
Babylon ? Can any one succeed the Duke of Marl- 
borough in fighting the battle of Hochsted, and in 
relieving the German empire ? I presume that 
every foot soldier is not a successor to Alexander 
the Great ; nor every Serjeant of the guards de- 
scended in a military line from Julius Caesar. Even 



OF THE CLERGY REFUTED, CONCLUDED. 105 

admitting that a succession had once existed, it 
could undeniably be proved that it has been fre- 
quently — I may almost say, constantly — interrupted 
and broken, under all those particulars which they 
judge necessary to its continuance. 



106 



CHAP. X. 



THE HISTORY OF TITHES. 



Tithes, from the Saxon word Teodo, which signi- 
fies the tenth part of a thing, have been defined to 
be the tenth part of the yearly increase, arising 
and renewing from the profits of land, or from the 
stock or personal industry of the inhabitants. But 
let it be remembered, that though the term tithe, 
or tenth, has more or less impressed every man, 
from long habit and custom, with that part of pro- 
perty which has been assigned to the maintenance 
of the priesthood, yet it literally means nothing 
more than the tenth of any thing ; and throughout 
the Greek and Roman writers, is usually applied 
to the spoils of war, which were occasionally and 
voluntarily given away in token of gratitude for 
success. The most ancient work in which we 
find the word first used, is the Old Testament, and 
in the sense here given ; from which circumstance 
it is possible the appropriation of tithes more parti- 
cularly originated among the various nations of the 
earth. 



HISTORY OF TITHES. 107 

Abraham, in his return from redeeming his 
nephew Lot, with his substance and all the sub- 
stance of Sodom and Gomorrah, was blessed by 
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the 
most High God, and gave him tithe of all. What 
that all was, is not agreed upon among the learned. 
Flavius Josephus, a Jew, and others, suppose it to 
have been the tithe of what was obtained by the 
war ; i. e. of all that Abraham brought back. 

The next mention of tithes is in Jacob's vow : 
" This stone," saith he, " which I have set up as a 
pillar, shall be God's house ; and of all that thou 
shalt give me, I will tithe and give the tenth to 
thee." Josephus informs us, that twenty years 
afterwards Jacob performed his vow ; but into 
whose hands he gave his tithes is not known, Isaac, 
his father, being chief priest at the time. Many of 
the learned have thought, that both Abraham and 
Jacob were priests when they paid their tithes. 

We have no express mention again of tithes in 
the sacred writings till the time of Moses. The 
yearly increase of the Jews were either fruits of 
the ground, or cattle. In the law of fruits of the 
ground, the first of the most forward were offered 
to the priest, in ears of wheat and barley, figs, 
grapes, olives, pomegranates, and dates ; of these 
seven, the owner paid in what quantities he 
thought proper. The next was the therumah, or 
heave offering, or first-fruits of corn, wine, oil, 
fleece, and other similar things ; but it was not 



108 HISTORY OF TITHES. 

determined by Moses of what quantity this heave- 
offering should be. The Jews anciently assessed 
it at the fiftieth part ; but he who paid a sixtieth 
part was discharged. Many of the strictly devo- 
tional Jews offered a fortieth. 

The sixtieth part was not under the quantity of 
the therumah appointed in Ezekiel, where the 
words are, " This is the therumah that ye shall 
offer : the sixth part of an ephah of an homer of 
wheat ; and ye shall give the sixth part of an 
ephah of an homer of barley." It is the same as 
if he had said, ye shall offer a therumah of the 
sixtieth part of every homer. An ephah being the 
same measure with a bath, i. e. near our common 
bushel, was the tenth part of an homer ; therefore, 
the sixth part of an ephah was the sixtieth of an 
homer. After the therumah s offered to the priests, 
every kind being given in season, out of the rest 
were taken the tithes, which are best divided into 
the first and second tithe. 

The first tithe was paid out of the remainder, 
to the Levites at Jerusalem. By the name of 
tithe it is every where styled ; and out of this tenth 
received by the Levites, they paid another tenth to 
the priests, as a heave offering out of their tenth ; 
which they also called the tithe of the tithe. The 
priests received no tithes of the husbandman ; but 
the Levites, who paid their tenths to the priests, 
did. The Levites could not spend any part of the 
tenth, until the priests' tenth was paid; afterwards it 



HISTORY OF TITHES. 109 

might be employed for their maintenance generally. 
This first tenth being paid, the nine parts remaining 
in possession of thehusbandmen were accounted pro- 
fane, or for common use ; yet it was not to be spent 
by the possessor until he had taken from those nine 
another tithe, which he was to carry, the two first 
years, to Jerusalem in kind ; or if the distance were 
too great, to turn it into money, adding a fifth part 
of the value, (to this tithe the Jews apply that of 
Levit. xxvii. 30, 31,) and to spend it at Jerusa- 
lem, at the temple, in feasts, which were similar 
to the agapce, or love feasts of the ancient Chris- 
tians. Every third year he was to spend the 
same upon the poor and Levites within his own 
gates. After these tenths were thus disposed of, 
the remainder of the year's increase was for com- 
mon use. 

Of the cattle of the Jews, the first born was the 
Lord's, paid to the priest, of clean beasts in kind ; 
of unclean in money, with a fifth part added. Of 
the increase, one tithe only was paid, and that 
only to the Levites. " Every tithe of bullock and 
of sheep, of all that goeth under the rod, the tenth 
shall be holy to the Lord." At the tithing, the 
Jews were accustomed to shut the lambs in a sheep- 
cot, with a small door to permit but one at a time 
to escape. A servant stood at the door with a rod 
coloured with ochre, and as the sheep escaped, he 
solemnlv told the tenth, which he also marked 



110 HISTORY OF TITHES. 

with his rod. Whether male or female, bad or 
good, it was the tithe, and could not be changed. 

How the payment of these tenths was occasionally 
observed and discontinued, appears partly in the Old 
Testament, partly by the institution of more trusty 
overseers. # After the new dedication of the temple 
by Judas Maccabaeus, until his fourth successor, 
John Hyrcanus — being nearly thirty years — every 
man dulypaid his first-fruits and therumahs ; but the 
first or second tithes, few or none paid justly ; and 
that through the corruption of the overseers. Upon 
which, the Sanhedrim enacted, that the overseers 
should be chosen out of more honest men. At the 
time of this act, a heave -offering, or therumah of 
the tenth of all, was enforced, i.e. that a hundredth 
part should be given to the priests, and that the 
second tithe should be paid at the temple ; but no 
first tithe was to be paid of any such thing. 

From the above act of the Sanhedrim to the last 
destruction of the temple, it appears from the 
sacred writings, that the just payment of tithes 
continued. 

The tithing of every herb spoken of in the 
gospel, and observed by the scribes and pharisees, 
was never commanded in scripture, or by the Jewish 
canon law. There was a tradition of the Rabbies, 
however, that all things growing out of the earth, 

* Apud Josephus, Ant. 



HISTORY OF TITHES. Ill 

and fit for man's meat, are titheable ; and by this 
payment of herbs, the pharisees were on the most 
sure side. 

After the destruction of the second temple, and 
the dispersion of the Jews, the law of first-fruits, 
therumahs, and tithes, ceased ; and the most learned 
doctors among them determine, that no inhabitants 
but of the land of Israel were to pay tithes, except 
Senaar, Moab, Ammon, and Egypt. # The great 
Joseph Scaliger says, that he asked many of the 
Jews whether their laws of sacrifices, first-fruits, 
and tithes would be revived, if they were again to 
rebuild their temple, as they did after their cap- 
tivity ? Their answer was, that to build the 
temple would be to no purpose, because they had 
no lawful priesthood, there being not one Jew who 
could prove himself a Levite. It is clear and evi- 
dent to every disinterested mind, and that from 
human testimony as well as divine, that God never 
intended to impose the payment of tithes on any 
people but the Jews, which being a part of the 
Theocracy, was necessary to the support of the 
Levites, who were a tenth of the population, and 
had no other inheritance. 

The custom of the Gentile nations in giving 
away a tenth, which is usually brought forward by 
the supporters of the present system of tithes, is 

* Vide In lad Chazeka Tract, de Therumah, c. 1., and 
Mikotzi in Prsecept. 133, and Eusebius cnrodetH,. evayye\. lib. a. 
cap. a. 



112 HISTORY OF TITHES. 

chiefly to be confined to the Greeks and Romans. 
The Grecians, under which name the Asiatics, who 
were of Greek manners, are comprehended, often 
consecrated their tithes to Apollo, as may be seen 
from the following inscription at Delphi : — 

u That we may hang up tithes and first-fruits to the honour of 
Phoebus." 

The Crotonians, before their war against the 
Locrians, vowed a tenth to Apollo •* and the 
Locrians, to exceed their enemies, a ninth ; the 
oracle having artfully given it out, that — 

" Rather by excess in vows than arms, the victory should be gained." 

To the same deity the inhabitants of Siphnus gave 
yearly the tithe of their mines which they found in 
the isle.f And after a victory over the Thessa- 
lians, by the Phocians, they made two statues of 
the tithe of the spoils for Apollo .J After the victory 
of Pausanius over Mardonius, the money of the 
tenth of the spoils was, by consecration, divided 
between Jupiter Olympius, Neptunus Isthmicus, 
and Apollo. Xenophon tells us, that Diana of 
Ephesus participated in tithes. Sometimes the 
offering was given to Jupiter alone ; sometimes 
Juno received tithes, as did also Pallas and Mars. 

* Trogus Histor. 20. f Herodot. lib. y. 

X Idem in Urania. 



HISTORY OF TITHES. 113 

The examples among the Grecians, shew that 
tithes were vowed to the gods in the event of 
success in an undertaking — generally of a warlike 
nature — or otherwise arbitrarily given, or, by some 
local custom, paid to especial deities. 

The Romans had a species of devotion in giving 
tithes, but neither yearly nor by compulsory law, 
as some, through ignorance, have imagined. The 
more wealthy Romans frequently tithed their 
estates to Hercules, by spending the tenth in 
sacrifices, gifts to his temple, feasts to his honour, 
and other similar modes, as evidently appears by 
Plutarch's words, in which he seeks to know the 

reason ; Atu n, Says he, too 'HpaxXe? noK\o\ twv <7r\ou<rluv 

ehxursuov Ta$ oiktUs ; Why do many of the rich men tithe 
their substance to Hercules ? Plutarch remarks, with 
other ancient writers, that the giving of tithes was 
a special devotion of some of the sons of fortune. # 
Old Cassius is to be thus understood, where he 
derives the tenth given to Hercules, from an inno- 
vation made by Recaranus in the time of Evander.f 
He says that Recaranus first taught them to give 
the tenths of their fruits to Hercules, to whom he 
consecrated an altar under the name of Inventori 
Patri, after he had regained his herds that Cacus 
had stolen, rather than give them to the King as 
he had been accustomed to do ; and then he adds — 
hide videlicet tractum ut Herculi decimam profanari 

* Vide, In Lucullo, alibi et Diodor. Sicul. Bibliothec. 5. 
t Apud Aurel. Vict, in Orig. Gent. Rom. 

I 



114 HISTORY OF TITHES. 

mos esset. From hence it came to be a custom of 
the laity, as we should say, that they paid a tithe 
to Hercules ; but it was required by neither the 
civil nor the pontifical law. A tithe was often 
given as a thanksgiving after some increase of 
fortune, and often by a vow previously made ; but 
was more generally bestowed on the increase of an 
estate, from money obtained upon sales, or from 
the spoils of war. Sometimes men are thankful 
for those things which make considerable acces- 
sions to their property, which induced Cicero 
jestingly to remark, neque Herculi quisquam decimam 
vovit unquam si sapiens f actus fuisset ; # (no man ever 
vowed to Hercules a tenth, in hope of an increase of 
wisdom.) An example is given in the parasite, of 
money obtained upon sale, who, after reckoning 
up his good merchandize, says, he must sell it as 
dearly as he can, that he may spend the tenth upon 
Hercules : — 

" Heec voenisse jam opus est quantum potest, 
Uti decumam partem Herculi polluceam."f 

The Romans not only gave tithes to Hercules, 
but to other gods. We find the old Pelasgi,j who 
transplanted themselves into Italy, gave their tenth 
of gain, from sea merchandize, to Apollo at Delphi, 
who before told them at Dodona, that being mixed 
with the Aborigines, ka^v hwi^arz ®oi£u, they shall 

* De Natura Deorum, lib. 3. f Plautus in Sticho. 

+ Dionys. Halicarnass. lib. .1, and Steph. wept ttoXlv. Afiopiy. 



HISTORY OF TITHES. 115 

send their tithe to Phoebus. Camillus vowed the 
tenth of the spoils to Apollo, and most carefully 
took his order to perform it by advice from their 
most learned priests. # Posthumius, the dictator, 
upon his happy victory over the Latins, tithed 
the spoils, spent forty talents upon sacrifices and 
prayers, in honour of the gods, and erected a 
temple with what remained to Ceres, Bacchus, 
and Proserpina. f Other deities, beside these, re- 
ceived occasional tithes, as Fortune and Mercury, 
being the gods of travellers and tradesmen ; and 
the deities of the way, or dii semitales, as Vius and 
others. 

In Italy, the custom to pay and vow tithes to the 
deities was arbitrary, and continued in use till the 
later times of the empire, as appears, also, in the 
law received from Ulpian by Justinian : "si deci- 
mam quis bonorum vovit, decima non prius esse in 
bonis definit quam fuerit separata, et si forte, qui 
decimam vovit, decesserit ante sepositionem, hares 
ipsius, hareditario nomine, decima obstrictus est: 
voti enim obligationem ad hceredem transire con- 
stat.'^ By this it is manifest, that though the 
vow, or payment without vow, were arbitrary ; yet, 
upon death, after the vow was made, the heir or 
executor of him that vowed was bound to pay. 

* Plutarch, in Camill. Liv. lib. 5. 
t Vide Dionys. Halicarnass. lib. 6 et 4. 
+ ff. tit. cle pollicit. 1. 2. quis § 2. 
I 2 



116 HISTORY OF TITHES. 

To the foregoing instances may be added the 
example of the Carthaginians, that sent the tithe 
of their Sicilian spoils to Hercules at Tyre.* The 
Arabian law may be here remembered, in which 
every merchant was bound to carry his frankin- 
cense to Sabota (which the learned take to be 
Saubatha in Ptolemy, the chief city of Arabia 
Fcelix) , and there offer to their god Sabis the tenth 
of it, which the priests received. No sale was per- 
mitted till the tithe was paid. There is little doubt 
but Sabis was the same with Bacchus, Uranus, 
Jupiter, or Sabazius, under different names. The 
number of the deities of the Arabians were always 
accounted but two ;f the god Uranus, known also 
by those other names ; and the goddess Urania or 
Venus. It is, therefore, pretty clear that Sabis is 
the same with Sabazius, which was first corrupted 
from Zabaoth of the scriptures, an attribute of the 
only and true God. And as this name, so the pay- 
ment of tenth, probably came to them from the use 
of it among their neighbours the Jews, as well as 
to the Carthaginians from their ancestors the Phoe- 
nicians, who spake the same language with the 
Jews, and frequently conversed with them. Nor 
is it unlikely that the ancient example of Abraham, 
as I before observed, gave rise to the Europeans 
to denote the tenth of their spoils of war being 

* Vide Justin, lib. 18. 

X Celsus ap. Originem, lib. 2. Arrian. de gest. Alex. £. Strabo, 
lib. 15. Herodot. lib. y. 



HISTORY OF TITHES. 117 

given occasionally to holy uses ; for it is not un- 
common to find Jewish customs prevail among 
the Gentiles, though they may ultimately vary, 
from the circumstances of time and place. The 
tenth paid among the Mahometans must be re- 
ferred to the Mosaic law, which they receive as 
authentic, but keep according to the imposter's 
fancy, and the doctrines of his canonists. 



118 



CHAP. XI. 



THE HISTQRY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 

No historical fact is more certain than this, that 
the system of tithes was not introduced into the 
Christian church till towards the close of the fourth 
century. The church, as I have before shewn, 
was, for several hundred years, maintained by 
voluntary oblations. In the age of the apostles 
we find that the unity of heart, among those at 
Jerusalem, was such, that every thing was in com- 
mon : — " As many as were possessors of lands or 
houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the 
things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' 
feet : and it was distributed unto every man accord- 
ing as he had need." # In Antioch, where the first 
Christian church was planted, every one of the dis- 
ciples had a special ability or estate of his own.t 
In Galatia and in Corinth, St. Paul ordained that 
weekly offerings for the saints should be given by 
every man according to his ability. J From exam- 
ples like these, the course of monthly offerings 
succeeded in the next ages. They were given by 

* Acts, iv. 34. f Mem. xi. 29. + I Cor. xvi. 2. 



HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 119 

able and devout Christians, and were carefully and 
charitably disposed of for the support of Christian 
worship, for the maintenance of the ministers of 
religion, for the feeding, clothing, and burying 01 
their poor brethren, widows, and orphans, and per 
sons tyrannically condemned to the mines, to pri- 
son, or to banishment. These contributions wen 
called stipes, a word borrowed from the heathens, 
by whom it was given to the collections made for 
their temples and deities. These offerings were 
not exacted by canon law, but voluntarily given ; 
as is proved from the testimony of the most 
learned. 

Tertullian, who lived about two hundred years 
after Christ, says, " Neque pretio ulla res Dei 
constat. Etiam si quod arete genus est, non de 
oneraria summa quasi redemptce religionis congre- 
gatur. Modicam unusguisgue stipem menstrua die 
vel cum velit, et si modo velit, et si modo possit, 
apponit. Nam nemo compellitur, sed sponte confert. 
Hcec quasi deposita pietatis sunt." He goes on to 
shew the employment of them in those charitable 
uses.* 

There are authorities extant to prove, that abou 
this time lands began to be given to the church 

* Apologetic, cap. xxxix. et videsis, cap. xlii. 

t Vide Urban. 1. in epist. c. xii. 9. 1. c. xvi. Sed et vide 
Euseb. eccles. hist. lib. ix. cap. ix. edict. Maximini, et lib. x 
cap. v. edict. Constant, et in lib. ii. de Vita Constantini, cap 



120 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 

The profits of this property formed a treasury, from 
which, and the monthly offerings, a monthly pay 
was given to the priests and ministers of the gos- 
pel, as a salary for their service ; which was distri- 
buted, either under the care, or by the hand of the 
bishop, or else of some elders appointed as ceconomi 
or wardens. Those monthly payments they called 
mensurnce divisiones, as may be seen in the writings 
of St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, who wrote 
about the year a.d. 250.* The African speaks 
familiarly on these particulars, and calls the bre- 
thren who cast in their monthly offering, fratres 
sportulantes ; the offering being denoted by the word 
sporiulte, which, in Rome, signified a kind of run- 
ning banquets, distributed at the houses of noble- 
men to those who visited for salutation. These 
sportulce, of the Romans, were frequently given in 
money, as may be seen in Martial. The word 
came, at length, as well to denote the oblations 
given to make a treasury for the salaries and main- 
tenance of the ministers of the first ages of the 
church, f as it signified those salaries, wages, or 
fees, which either judges or ministers of courts of 
justice received as due to their situations. \ 

* Cyprian, epist. 27. et 34. et vide epist. 36. editione Pam- 
meliana. 

•f Concil. Chalced. a.d. 541. in libell. Samuelis et al. contra 
Iban. et videsis torn. 3. concil. fol. 231. cap. xxxi. edit. Binii 
penultima. 

% Papinian. ff. de decurion. 1. 6. §. 1. et c. tit. de sportulis. 
et vide glossas Grsec. juris in (nroprovXa. 



HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 121 

Great advantage has been taken of a passage in 
Cyprian, by the interested clergy, which they have 
endeavoured to impose upon the credulous in sup- 
port of tithes. The fact is this : — Cyprian is re- 
proving one Geminius Faustinus, a priest, for 
being troubled with the office of warden to appor- 
tion and distribute the offerings to the ministers. 
He says, that the dignity of a priest should be free 
from all secular care, like the Levites, who were 
provided with tithes ; his words are — " Ut qui 
operationibus divinis insistebant, in nulla re avoca- 
rentur" And then he adds — (( Qua nunc ratio 
et forma in clerotenetur, ut qui in ecclesia Domini 
ad ordinationem clericalem promoventur nullo modo 
ab administratione divina avocentur, sed in honor e 
sportulantium fratrum, tanquam decimas ex fruc- 
tibus accipientes, ab altari et sacrificiis non rece- 
dant, et die ac node coslestibus rebus et spiritua- 
libus serviant." This plainly agrees with that 
monthly stipend made from the oblations brought 
into the treasury, which he compares with that 
which was received by the Levites. Hence, also, 
it is manifest that no payment of tithes was in use 
in the Christian church in the age of St. Cyprian ; 
though the interested would too rashly infer it from 
this place. The words tanquam decimas accipientes, 
which continue the comparison of ministers of the 
gospel with the Levites, plainly exclude them. 

The laws for the tenths of mines and quarries 
were made by Gratian, Valerian, and Theodosius, 



122 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 

Christian emperors, about a. d. 380.* Those who 
are desirous of reading more upon the subject of 
oblations, by which the church was alone supported 
for nearly four hundred years, can consult Marcel- 
linus,f and St. Chrysostom,i together with the 
works of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. 

It is painful to remark, that of the present 
bench of bishops, I know not one who has come 
forward to oppose the surreptitious canons, de- 
crees, and pious frauds, as they are termed, which 
were palmed upon the public during the dark ages, 
in support of tithes and the craft in general, and 
which now hang heavily upon religion. Let 
it be remembered, that he who enlightens the 
mind and cultivates the understanding, destroys 
the power of despotism, and contributes to the 
prosperity and happiness of his fellow-creatures, is 
a much greater and better man than the conqueror 
of kingdoms and the ravager of nations. Chris- 
tianity is of too pure and substantial a nature to 
lose any thing by an exposure of its abuses. It 
may appear disgusting and forbidding to the eye of 
the superficial observer, in the dress in which it 
has often been made to appear by designing and 
selfish men ; but let it assume its pristine form, 

* C. tit. de Metallariis, 1. 3, cuncti. et in c. Theodos. lib. 
10. tit. 19,1. 10, et 11: 

f Amm. Marcellin. lib. 27. 

+ Tom. 6. edit. Saviliana, pag. 897. onov xpV oveidifciv rovg 
Up&c, Sec. 



HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 123 

and it will appear the brightest boon of Heaven to 
man : — 

" Soft peace it brings whenever it arrives, 
It builds our quiet as it forms our lives ; 
It lays the rough paths of peevish nature even, 
And opens in each breast a little heaven." 

The constitutions of the church, falsely said to 
be made by the apostles, and collected by Pope 
Clement I., expressly support the right of tenths. 
There we read — " Qum secundum Dei mandatum 
tribuuntur, decimas dico et primitias, insumat episcopus 
ut homo Dei." And the right of tithes is large- 
ly argued upon the Levitical commandment. No 
honest man, however, will believe that this volume 
was written in or near the age of the apostles, nor 
till many hundred years after. It carries fraud 
and imposture in every page, and has been 
properly branded as counterfeit by many learned 
Christians. Previous to its present bulk, which it 
has gained from accessions of canons of later birth, 
it was considered in an oecumenical council as 
spurious.* Had these constitutions been the ordi- 
nances of the apostles, or of the church in the pri- 
mitive times, Origen, Tertullian, and Cyprian, 
would not have passed them over in silence ; nor is 
it probable that all the ancient councils during the 
first six centuries, which, beyond exception, are re- 

* Synod. 6. in Trullo, circa a.d. 690. can. 2. 



124 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 

ceived as authentic, and which contain the offer- 
ings, revenues, canons for the lands, and goods 
possessed by the church, should have omitted the 
name of tenths, if either such appropriation or 
apostolical law had preceded them. 

Among the counterfeit canons which some too 
credulously received as made by the apostles, 
though they rejected the eight books of Clemen- 
tine, is one on first-fruits ; but there is no word 
of tithes. # I fear a similar credit is to be attached 
to a fourth council held at Rome, about a. d. 380, 
by Pope Damasus. Upon the testimony of Car- 
dinal Baronius,f the legend of this pope, which 
was usually read in the church, is extant, and con- 
tains, with some miracles, certain decrees said to 
be his — but made in what council at Rome nobody 
knows. One is, " Ut decimce atque primitive a 
Jidelibus darentur, et qui detrectarent anathemate 
ferirentur" as he relates it. But these decrees 
were never received as canonical, nor were they 
ever mentioned in the oldest code of the church of 
Rome, or by Fulgentius, Cresconius, Isidore, 
Burchard, Ivo, or Gratian. There are some de- 
crees of Damasus, with epistles and canons of one 
council of Rome, that were publicly dispersed in 
the writings of various compilers ; but the subjects 

* Vide Canon. Apost. cap. iii. et iv. 

f Baron. Annal. torn. iv. ann. 382, pag. 399, et a. 384, pag. 
427. edit. Plantiniana. 



HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 125 

of tithes, usurers, witches, and other things, 
which Baronius says he alone published to the 
world, from a MS., do not appear in any of 
them, though the pope, in his more generally re- 
ceived writings, speaks of the offerings and obla- 
tions of the church. * Nor has any volume of the 
councils, before the edition of Binius, any decrees 
or councils of Damasus, such as are related by Ba- 
ronius. Such impositions as those practised by 
this writer were not unusual among idle monks in 
the middle ages. Acts and legends of popes were 
then published, illustrated by fiction and bold in- 
terpolation, which the interested now acknowledge 
with reverence, and the unwary, mistaking the 
antiquity of their character, receive as truth. I 
will mention one of these legends among many, 
which was written with a view to establish an 
authority coeval with the apostles for the payment 
of tithes ; which, if my reader can, under any 
suspension or accidental obliquity of his intellect, 
admit, he will possess as certain and express au- 
thority for the ancient practice of the payment of 
tithes, as any church in Christendom can produce. 
The legend may be seen in the public library of 
Oxford, bound up at the end of "The Life of 
Thomas a Becket," by John de Grandisono. The 
story is this : — 

About the year a. d. 600, St. Augustine went 

* C. 10, q. 1, c. 15, haric consuetudinem. 



126 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 

to preach at Cometon in Oxfordshire. The priest 
of the place made a heavy complaint to the saint, 
that the lord of the manor, though often admon- 
ished by him, yet would pay him no tithes. Au- 
gustine questioned the lord about his default in 
devotion ; but he stoutly answered, that the tenth 
sheaf was, doubtless, his that had interest in the 
nine, and therefore he would pay none. Presently 
Augustine declared him excommunicated, and turn- 
ing to the altar to say mass, publicly forbade that any 
excommunicated person should be present ; when, 
suddenly, a dead corpse, that had been buried at the 
church door, arose and departed out of the limits 
of the church-yard, standing still without while the 
mass continued. On its being ended, Augustine 
came up to this living- dead, and charged him, in 
the name of the Lord God, to declare who he was. 
He told the saint, that in the time of the British 
state, he was hujus villce patronus ; and although he 
had been often urged by the doctrine of the priest 
to pay his tithes, yet he never could be brought to 
it ; for which he died, he says, excommunicated, 
and was carried to hell. # Augustine desired to 
know where the priest who excommunicated him 
was buried. This living-dead man shewed him 
the place, where the saint made an invocation of 
the dead priest, and bade him arise, because they 
wanted his help. The priest arose. Augus- 

* I should think the author meant purgatory. 



HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 127 

tine asked him, if he knew the other who was 
risen : yes, replied the priest, and also expressed 
wishes that he had never known him * for, says he, 
he was in all things ever adverse to the church, a 
detainer of his tithes, and a great sinner to his 
death, and, therefore, I excommunicated him. 
Augustine then publicly declared that it was now 
proper that mercy should be used towards him, for 
that he had suffered long in hell for his offence ; 
whereupon the saint gave him absolution, and sent 
him to his grave, where he again fell into dust and 
ashes. This patronus being departed, the newly 
risen priest told the saint that his corpse had lain 
in the grave above a hundred and seventy years. 
Augustine would gladly have had him continue 
upon earth again for the instruction of souls, but 
could not prevail upon him, so he also returned to 
his former lodging. The lord of the place standing 
by all this time, and trembling, was now demanded 
if he would pay his tithes, upon which he fell down 
at St. Augustine's feet, weeping and confessing his 
offence, and receiving pardon, became all his life- 
time a payer of tithes, and a follower of Augus- 
tine ! 

This legend is also found in the historia aurea of 
Johannes Anglicus, # and in the margin of his book 
are these words : — ' ' Hoc miraculum videbitur Mis 
incredebile qui credunt aliquid deo esse impossibile. 

* MS. part. 2. lib. 17. cap. 72. 



128 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 

Sed nulli dubium est quod nunquam Anglorum 
durce cervices Christi jugo se submisissent nisi per 
magna miracula sibi divinitus ostensa." It would 
be an insult upon the understanding, to waste more 
time in tracing the various modes of force and 
fraud by which the system of tithes has been en- 
forced by pontifical, provincial, and imperial man- 
date, from their commencement in the fifth century 
to the present day. We have certain, but no less 
melancholy, evidence of their existence during the 
dark ages up to the present enlightened period. 
No mention is made of tithes in the grand codex 
of canons, ending a. d. 457, which book, next to 
the Bible, Bishop Barlow considered to be the most 
authentic in the world. During the greater part 
of the first five centuries it is certain that both the 
clergy and the church were supported by the free 
gifts and oblations of the pious. # Blacks tone is 
of opinion, that tithes in England were contem- 
porary with the planting of Christianity among the 
Saxons by Augustine the monk, about the end of 
the sixth century ;f and that tithes existed by way 
of offering prior to the year 750, is apparent from 
the canons of Egbert, Archbishop of York. The 
payment of tithes is also strongly enjoined in a con- 
stitutional decree made in a synod held a.d. 786 ; 
but no law appears to have existed for the enforc- 
ing the payment of them by civil coercion, prior to 

* See Barl. Rem, 169. f Black. 2 Com. 25. 



HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 129 

the year 794, when Offa, King of Mercia, made a 
grant to the church of the tithes of all his king- 
doms, viz. Mercia and Northumberland ; and 
Ethel wulph, about sixty years afterwards, ex- 
tended it to the whole realm of England. 

In the Fcedus Edwardi et Guthruni* the payment 
of tithes is also strictly enjoined, as it afterwards 
was by the laws of Athelstan,f about the year 930. 
And since that period, tithes have been not only 
fully and generally established, but the payment 
enforced, as well by the municipal or common, as 
by the ecclesiastical law. 

As to the propriety of the institution of tithes, 
there can be but one opinion among all disinterested 
men. Under the Christian economy it is of human 
invention. Had it been by divine right and appoint- 
ment, it would have been clearly laid down in the 
New Testament, and would not have required the 
propping up of legends and artful priests. Paley 
says, that " of all the institutions which are ad- 
verse to cultivation and improvement, none is so 
noxious as that of tithes. They are not only a tax 
upon industry, but upon that industry that feeds 
mankind, upon that species of exertion which it is 
the aim of the all-wise laws to cherish and pro- 
mote." It is an institution which has supported 
luxury, pride, and indolence, and done more injury 
to religion than all the writings of infidels, from 

* c.6. f s. 6. See Wilk. 51. 

K 



130 HISTORY OF TITHES, CONCLUDED. 

Celsus to Carlile. The wisdom of the legislature 
should modify laws as time and circumstances 
alter, and as the voice of imperative necessity de- 
mands. I shall have occasion in my future publi- 
cations to revert to this subject, when I will en- 
deavour to point out some of the evils which the 
system of tithes has brought upon mankind, and 
which every British subject more or less feels. In 
doing this, I know I shall incur the displeasure of 
bishops and their underlings ; but I have long 
known that all mad-men are not in Bedlam. Those 
who are there I sincerely pity; at those who are 
not, I shall continue to laugh. 



131 



CHAP. XII. 



THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH, COMPARED WITH THE 
WEALTH OF THE CHURCHES OF OTHER NATIONS. 

It would make a curious history, to discover and 
explain minutely, from what particular men, and 
by what particular arts and application, every 
farm, every estate, and every donation, now pos- 
sessed by churchmen, was at first acquired. I 
question whether any revenues in the world were 
ever so wickedly procured ; since, to enrich the 
church, all means, even murder and every impiety, 
have been deemed lawful. Father Paul, a transla- 
tion of whose History of the Council of Trent it is 
my intention to give to the public, with notes, as 
soon as time will permit, says, that the church is 
beholden, for her greatest legacies and donations, 
to the bounty of infamous women, strumpets, and 
prostitutes ; or to that of peevish people, who thus 
gratified their spite towards their own blood and 
relations. And as the church had no riches but 
what were freely given to her, or taken and ob- 
tained by her unjustly, so she had no power but 
what was either begged or usurped. 

It is well known that assassins and blasphemers 
purchased protection and absolution ; that tyranny 

k 2 



132 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

and oppression were warranted and sanctified; that 
holy snares were laid ; that false terrors were 
spread ; that miracles were forged ; that God's 
name was blasphemed ; that Jesus and the holy 
Virgin were profanely personated by priests, to de- 
lude enthusiasts to suppose these heavenly beings 
honoured them with a visit in person, — and all this 
to create wealth for the church. Indeed, it were 
endless to enumerate all the arts and impieties, 
impostures and falsehoods, by which churchmen 
formerly filled their coffers, at the expense and 
through the stupidity of laymen. But though no 
possessions were so impiously obtained, I never 
heard of any instance in which they parted with 
them from remorse or shame, even when the right 
heirs, who were thus deprived of their estates, were 
starving, and the possessors, or rather usurpers, 
were gorged with more wealth than they could con- 
sume in their luxury and debauches. 

Whatever was once annexed to the church in the 
days of usurpation and darkness, however knav- 
ishly obtained, was held sacred and unalienable ; 
nay, it became no less than sacrilege to divest her 
of what she had gained by robbery and fraud. 
Whatever was once hers, even her frauds and 
crimes, were holy, and it was profane to censure 
them. Indeed, he who did so, was atheistical. 
Whoever found fault with the church was an 
enemy to the church; and he who was an enemy to 
the church, was an atheist. Hence the frequent 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 133 

and ridiculous application of the terms, atheism and 
blasphemy, till these two words grew contemptible. 

As to the quantity of the church's wealth, she 
never knew any bounds. As long as the laity had 
to give, she took ; till at last, in some countries, she 
possessed all. 

Even in this Protestant country, the revenues of 
the established clergy amount to upwards of nine 
millions, sterling, per annum, as may be seen by 
the following table* : — 

Church-tithe £. 6,884,800 

Incomes of the bishoprics 297,1 15t 

Estates of the deans and chapters 494,000 

Glebes and parsonage-houses . 250,000 

Perpetual curacies, 751. each 75,000 

Benefices not parochial, 250/. each 32,450 

Church-fees on burials, marriages, christenings, &c. 500,000 
Oblations, offerings, and compositions for offerings 

at the four great festivals 80,000 

College and school foundations 682,150 

Lectureships in towns and populous places .... 60,000 

Chaplainships and offices in public institutions . . 10,000 

New churches and chapels 94,050 

Total revenue of the established clergy, £.9,459,565 



I believe this revenue to be larger than in the 
times of popery, notwithstanding the demolition of 
so many monasteries, and the seizure of their in- 

* Taken from the " Extraordinary Black Book." 
t The See of Sodor and Man is not in charge in the king's 
books, and is omitted in this estimate. 



134 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

comes ; for it must be remembered, that the clergy 
then maintained the poor, who are now supported 
chiefly by the laity, at the immense charge of 
several millions per annum. The following is the 

REVENUE OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT IN 
IRELAND. 

Archbishops and bishops, average income of each 

£.10,000 £.220,000 

Estates and tithes of the deans and chapters 250,000 

Ecclesiastical rectors, vicars, & perpetual curates : — 

Tithes £.590,450 

Glebelands 91,137 

Ministers' money 25,000 

Church fees 250,000 

956,587 

Total revenue of the clergy .... £.1,426,587 



I cannot omit giving my readers some useful 
information contained in a work, entitled, " An 
Inquiry into the Consumption of Public Wealth by 
the Clergy." The writer observes, that the amount 
of property held by the Established Church of 
Great Britain and Ireland, is very far indeed 
beyond what is necessary for its support to all 
useful purposes ; and that it exceeds in amount 
all that is paid to all the Christian churches in the 
world besides. 

No reason, no policy, no justice, can justify this. 
Common honesty and ordinary decency revolt at 
the astounding proposition ! One can hardly help 
wondering whether we are not residing among a 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 135 

race of lunatics, when we see it proved to a de- 
monstration, that the Christians of France, Ame- 
rica, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Austria, 
Switzerland, Prussia, the minor states of Ger- 
many, Holland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Swe- 
den, Russia; the Christians in Turkey, South 
America, and elsewhere, to the amount of nearly 

TWO HUNDRED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, receive 

something less than nine millions ; — that is, the 
Christian world, exclusive of Great Britain and 
Ireland, pays an average of less than one shilling 
for each individual Christian per annum ; whilst 
the Church of England alone, in Great Britain and 
Ireland, receives a greater sum from a population 
of twenty-one millions ; which is an average of about 
ten shillings per head for every British Christian ! — 
Great Britain, doubtless, ought to have the best 
government, and the best religion in the world, if 
the quality of either depends upon the price ; for it 
is beyond all question that she pays the dearest for 
them ; # though they do not seem to do her much 
more good than what is obtained by her neigh- 
bours from articles so much cheaper. 

* It may be well to remark, that a considerable part of this 
sum is received by lay impropriators, and cannot therefore, 
in strictness, be taken into account in estimating the cost of 
religion. But, on the other hand, we have to add to that part 
of these revenues received by the clergy, all that is voluntarily 
contributed in the shape of fees, seat-rent, dues, offerings, &c, 
and also contributions for the support of schools and religious 
societies. This would materially swell the amount of the funds 
levied for the support of religion. 



136 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

Before we present our readers with the calcula- 
tions from which these results are drawn, we can- 
not avoid giving the following appropriate observa- 
tions upon the propriety and justice of applyng 
the surplus of the church property, after the proper 
maintenance of its ministers, to the liquidation of 
what is usually termed the National debt. 

A crisis in the financial concerns of the British 
Empire, must, in the opinion of many persons, be- 
fore long take place, when something must be at- 
tempted ; and the holders of all the real property of 
the country — lands, houses, and so forth — and of 
thefunds, must, perhaps, contribute a portion of their 
property to extinguish a part of the national debt. 
In so pressing an emergency, it seems extremely 
probable that the church property will be the first 
applied to the same purpose. — This course has been 
followed in all Christian nations, where, from the 
piety or superstition of the people, a large property 
had been given to the Church. In Germany, 
France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal; in short, 
wherever a large property had accumulated in the 
hands of the clergy, although the people were all 
of the same religion, all such property has been 
uniformly applied to the service of the nation, and 
we are now the only people who have a large 
mass of ecclesiastical wealth in reserve. Even in 
the papal tyranny of Rome, the church property has 
been sold to pay the national debt ; so that far more 
property belonging to the clergy is to be found in 
any part of England, of equal extent, than in the 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 137 

Roman State. The cardinals of Rome, the bishops, 
canons, and prebends, have no longer princely 
revenues. A cardinal, who formerly had thousands, 
has now only four or five hundred pounds, English, 
a-year. But then a new, and much more useful 
set of rich men has grown up, — the new landlords; 
men who purchased the estates, and, living on 
them, improve them to the best advantage. 
The purchase -money paid off the whole national debt. 
In all these cases, the working clergy, and the 
people, were in favour of these reforms of the 
money-matters of the church ; for it was found 
that the riches were in the hands of men who kept aloof 
from the people, while the working clergy, who mixed 
with them, and were their real spiritual pastors, 
were only allowed a miserable scanty subsistence. 
These reforms have been followed by a comfortable pro- 
vision for the working clergy. Whatever we may 
think of the continued attachment of these nations 
to the doctrines, discipline, and liturgy of their 
church, we must give them credit for great good 
sense, in putting a stop to the excessive con- 
sumption of public wealth by their clergy. 

These alterations in the revenues of their clerical 
bodies, though for a long time wished, never were 
effected but at periods of great national convulsion. 
Probably, had the clergy consented to a revision of 
their incomes, before such moments of violent 
excitement, they might have made much better 
terms for themselves. Being no friend to a public 



138 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

commotion of this sort, I earnestly beg the prelates 
of our church to take warning by other nations 
and states, to prevent that eruption, which other- 
wise must sooner or later take place. 

The consumption of public wealth by the Esta- 
blished Church of England and Ireland, is not only 
greater than that of any other national church ; but 
her clergymen, as we have seen, receive in the year, 
more money than all the clergymen of all the rest of the 
whole Christian world. Should any thing near this 
be found to be the case, considerable part of her 
wealth may be very properly applied to relieve the 
national burthens ; — the more so, as of the twenty- 
one millions of people composing the population 
of our islands, less than one-third, or seven millions 
of people, are hearers of the Established Church ; 
the remainder, or upwards of fourteen millions, 
being attached to other Christian persuasions. 

Some men consider us engaged in running the 
race of national greatness and power, more parti- 
cularly with France and the United States of 
America; and contend, that we ought not to bear 
an enormous weight of a church establishment that 
they are freed from ! They consider, that it gives 
those nations a great advantage over us ; and that 
difference, between what we expend on the clergy, and 
what they do, there would be enough to pay the annual 
expenses of a war between us. And as some proof of 
the correctness of this argument, they direct our 
attention to the glaring fact, i. e. that in 1792, the 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 139 

expenses of the Government, interest of the debt 
included, was about nine millions. The Esta- 
blished Church receives more than this sum ! 

The United States of America, after France, or 
even before her, are, in the opinion of these per- 
sons, to be looked to as our rivals ; and they are 
not, like us, burdened with an expensive church 
establishment. It is contended that our young- 
men now at Eton will see the United States of 
America surpassing us in the numbers of her peo- 
ple, and of her seamen, and their navy the most 
powerful in the world after ours. The armies, 
influence, riches, and perhaps subsidies of France, 
in combination with the naval vigour of the United 
States, will one day demand the full exertion of 
our power ; and perhaps will render judicious, our 
ceasing to expend on the clergy of less than one- 
third of the people, a sum thought to be as great 
as the revenues of the clergy of all the other Chris- 
tian nations on the face of the earth. 

With a view of giving information and preparing 
for further inquiry on this subject, the following 
tables have been framed, shewing the expendi- 
ture on the clergy in the various Christian States. 
Documents exist to give the French expenditure on 
the clergy with perfect accuracy ; and also to give 
that of the church of Scotland with great correct- 
ness. The expenditure in Spain, Portugal, and 
Hungary, has also been ascertained with consi- 
derable precision. The guides used in framing the 



140 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

tables have been, — the data obtained from a knovv- 
lege of the expenditure of the churches just named; 
information collected from geographical and statis- 
tical works, and from the works of numerous re- 
cent travellers ; documents given in the public 
papers of England, France, Spain, and Portugal ; 
verbal communications with natives and other resi- 
dents, and with recent travellers in each country ; 
submitting occasionally the tables to such persons 
for examination, discussion, and correction. 

While some incline to the opinion, that no pro- 
vision need be made for the clergy, — that the 
English, being at least as religious a people as the 
Americans, will support the clergy handsomely by 
voluntary contributions, as is done by the people 
of the United States, and by more than half the 
people of our own islands for the pastors of their 
own persuasion ; others, and the less numerous 
party, think a liberal, but still reasonable legal 
provision is most advisable. Many plans present 
themselves for carrying such provision into effect. 

Such is the introduction to the inquiry, from 
which the following results are derived. The tri- 
vial errors that may be detected in the details, can- 
not very materially affect the conclusions, which 
forcibly suggest the necessity of an immediate 
reformation of the Church Establishment of 
England. 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 141 



EXPENDITURE OF THE CLERGY IN FRANCE. 

Episcopal body and dignitaries, in all about 578 

persons, receive £. 86,1 14 

2,886 Catholic Rectors, at 48/. per annum 138,480 

22,960 Catholic Curates, at 31/. per annum 701,760 

357 Protestants, at 561. per annum 19,922 

4,000 for occasional services, at 10/. per annum. . . . 40,000 

3,500 ditto at 8/. per annum 28,000 

For uncertain occasional aid is granted 10,000 

Loss on the previous calculations, to keep round 

numbers 25,724 



Total of the French Church Expenditure, £.1,050,000 



In France, the Protestant ministers are paid 
higher than the Catholics, because they are per- 
mitted to marry, and have wives and families to 
support ; an instance of liberality, in a country 
where there are twenty-nine Catholics to one Pro- 
testant, that shames the persecution of the Ca- 
tholics of Ireland to a degree at which even an Irish 
Orange-man might blush. But this is not all. 
Let a Methodist, a Baptist, an Unitarian, or an 
Independent of any description, go to France, and 
bring over to his way of thinking a sufficient num- 
ber of people to form a congregation, and to erect 
a place of worship, and he will, by application to 
the minister of the interior, or home department, 
get a national stipend for the officiating clergy- 
man. — Every University in France, and every post 



142 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

in the Universities, are open to the youth ; and 
every civil and military employment in the state is 
open to men of all denominations. — That absurd 
word " toleration/' the use of which implies that 
one man has a right to tolerate the opinions of 
another, is banished from France, and "equal 
liberty and equal protection" are the admitted rights 
of all. 

Previous to the Revolution of 1793, France had 
nearly 400,000 ministers of the Catholic church ; 
that is, more than ten times as many as she pos- 
sesses now ; all the ministers, of all denominations 
and ranks, amounting at present only to 35,643. 
Before the revolution, the revenues of the church 
amounted to 7,400,000/. sterling ; so that, by the 
revolution, France has gained perfect liberty of 
conscience ; — she has annually saved six millions, 
three hundred and fifty-two thousand, one hundred 
and sixty-three pounds ; and sent about three 
hundred and fifty thousand idle drones, who were 
accustomed to live upon the labours of others, to 
earn their own livelihoods by honest and useful 
occupations. Had nothing else been gained by 
the French revolution, it would have been a Na- 
tional Blessing, and even cheaply purchased 
by all the bloodshed that was occasioned, through 
the envy and fear of the crowned despots of other 
states ! 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 143 

EXPENDITURE OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 

There are 938 clergymen who enjoy benefices ; 
and of these, 893 have the charge of parishes ; 45 
have collegiate churches ; and with those who are 
supported by voluntary contributions, and those 
not regularly engaged in the ministry, may bring 
the number up to 1,000; the income of which 

is £.206,000 

Dissenters from the Kirk, cost - 44,000 



£.250,000 



EXPENDITURE OF THE CHURCH OF SPAIN. 

552 Dignitaries - - - £.109,400 

16,000 Working Clergy - - 1,025,000 



Total Expense - - £.1,134,400 



Previous to the Revolution in Spain, there were 
in that country, 180,242 ministers and agents of 
religion, living in more than 3,000 convents, and 
possessing real property, land, and buildings, to 
the amount of 186,500,000/., which, at 5 per cent., 
would yield a revenue of more than nine millions 
a year ; exclusive of tithes and various other taxes 
and dues for the clergy. The Cortes, with equal 
wisdom and justice, put this property on sale, for 
the benefit of the nation, making a moderate pro- 
vision for all the parties who were dependant upon 



144 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

it. — They also reduced the direct tithes one-half, 
and abolished all other payments to the church. 
The half-tithe has been found amply sufficient to 
maintain the reformed church ; so that, upon the 
whole, Spain has been a greater gainer even than 
France ; though it is to be regretted, that she has 
not abolished tithes altogether, and left the mi- 
nisters of religion to the payment of their flocks, 
as in America. The American is far preferable to 
the French mode ; as state-pay makes priests state- 
hirelings : and to tax any one for the support of 
opinions which are deemed erroneous, is the gross- 
est injustice, and the most pointed insult that can 
be offered to a man of spirit and integrity. It is 
to compel him to contribute his property to sup- 
port the propagation of what he thinks error, 
falsehood, or delusion ! However, it was something 
of importance to reduce the national priesthood 
from 148,222 to less than 17,000, which has been 
effected, and to produce a saving of more than 
ten millions sterling, per annum ; the difference of 
which, to the nation, between its consumption by 
a horde of unproductive drones, and being left to 
circulate in productive labour, will be immense. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE PORTUGUESE CHURCH. 

165 Dignitaries are allowed - - £.24,800 
4,300 Working Clergy - - - 262,500 

Total expenditure - - £.287,300 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 145 

In Portugal, all church property has been taken 
into the hands of the government since the late 
revolution. The following passage, from a paper 
published at Lisbon, in 1822, will shew how rapidly 
the public mind has been enlightened upon these 
subjects, in a country supposed to be the most bar- 
barous in Europe : — 

" The tithe is one of those imposts which, per- 
haps, is deserving of some modification. It is now 
universally known, that this contribution, or tax, 
is not of divine right ; for if it were so, Sovereigns 
could neither appropriate it to themselves, as is 
the case in our American possessions, nor divert it 
to other uses and applications ; nor remit, nor ap- 
propriate it, as was the case in its appropriation to 
the breaking up of new lands. By letters patent, 
or charter, of 11th April, 1815, the oblations, or 
offerings, with which the people in the first ages of 
the church voluntarily agreed to support the clergy, 
were, in the sixth century, converted by the people 
themselves into a regular payment, which was, in 
general, a tenth of their produce. This free offer- 
ing became a usage, and this came to be regarded 
as property ; and so long ago as the eighth century, 
this tithe is found embodied in the civil laws, and 
forming a right! but solely having for its object, 
the decent support of the ministry of the altar. If, 
however, the obligation was general, it was not 
always uniform. On the contrary, in its quota it 
was as various as are the Catholic nations, and 



146 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

sometimes as various as the provinces of the same 
nation. In some places, a tenth was paid ; in 
others, a twentieth, a thirtieth, and as far as & forti- 
eth ! We remember that, in the constitution made 
by D. Martins, Archbishop of Barga, in 1304, he 
fixed the tithe in the proportion of one in seventy 
on the nett product. From all this, we would only 
conclude, that if it should be thought necessary, it 
is, without doubt, lawful, to reduce the tithes on 
those lands where the payment being one part in 
every ten, the cultivator runs a risk of loss." 

It is evident that the writer might have carried 
the conclusion from his premises much farther. He 
might have shewn the cause of the difference in 
the rate of the tithe, which, having for its object 
only the decent support of the clergy, would natu- 
rally vary in proportion to the numbers of the 
clergy, the population, and the wealth of the 
different districts ; a twentieth, or a fortieth, being 
likely to produce in some places, more than a 
tenth in others ; and the sums requisite for the 
decent support of the church being obtained, there 
is no pretence for levying more under the tax de- 
nominated tithe. — All lay impropriations, or con- 
tributions, paid in the shape of tithes to persons 
who do not belong to the church, are gross impo- 
sitions on the good sense of mankind. 

But though the writer might have gone much 
farther, they have gone a great way farther than 
could have been expected in Portugal ; and we 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 147 

should be happy to see as much good sense 
prevail generally in England. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE HUNGARIAN CHURCHES. 

Hungary contains about eight millions of inha- 
bitants, divided into several sects, who were tear- 
ing each other to pieces in the name of religion, 
until Joseph II. of Austria placed them all on an 
equality, and enacted a law which declares that no 
man is obliged to pay a tithe- tax to a religion to which 
he does not belong. This is the nearest approach 
to common sense we find recorded of an Austrian 
Emperor ; and it is unfortunate it should have 
been so little regarded in the way of example. As 
all the sects support their own teachers, economy 
is the order of the day. Nearly 5,500 priests of 
the Latin Catholic Church are maintained for 
320,000/. at an average of 601. per annum each. 
The Calvinistic Church has 1,383 clergymen, at an 
average of 44/., amounting to 60,8961. The Lu- 
theran Church has 456 preachers, at an average of 
451. each, which amounts to 26,000/. The Greek 
Catholic Clergy are very poor, but not so poor as 
the members of the Greek Church. There is no 
reason to believe the remainder are better paid 
than those that have been enumerated. 



l2 



148 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA. 

Religion, in North America, is left entirely to 
herself. The State has declined either formally 
espousing any particular creed, or of resorting to 
the less credible mode of supporting any. Yet 
religion is by no means on the wane in America. 
There are about eight thousand places of worship, 
supplied by many clergymen of different persua- 
sions ; but they are maintained at a very moderate 
expense, as the whole cost of the religious esta- 
blishment is not more than 560,000/. But the 
whole support is derived from voluntary contribu- 
tions ; and hence the moderate price of religion in 
the United States, where no man is compelled 
either to belong to, or to support any church. An 
assessment on every man for some place of worship, 
to be named by himself, was enforced for some 
time in a few of the States ; but even the clergy 
joined in obtaining the repeal of this law ; for it 
was found that places of worship and clergymen 
were more liberally supported in the States where 
the contributions were left free. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN ITALY. 

In Italy, where the pope has reigned in such 
splendour as to eclipse that of temporal monarchs, 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 149 

and where the government has been in the hands 
of ecclesiastics for centuries, one might expect to 
find religion wallowing in luxury, and its teachers 
possessed of all the wealth of the land. But the 
contrary is the fact ; and a population of nineteen 
millions of hearers, maintains 20,400 clergymen, 
the pope included, for the comparatively small sum 
of 776,000/., or less than one million; while the 
Church of England and Ireland, though not com- 
prising seven millions of hearers, consumes to the 
value of nearly nine millions and a half sterling of 
the produce of the country ! The French visit 
to Italy has produced a variety of good effects. 
The sales of the church estates have been held 
sacred; and even in Sicily, where the English 
fleet preserved the ancient system, the church lands 
have since been sold, in consequence of the ex- 
ample of the benefit to the Italian nation of the 
transfer of lands from inert possessors to active pro- 
prietors. — But the present clergymen of Italy, 
whatever other faults they may have, are not greedy or 
avaricious. The dues of the church are very light 
throughout Italy. The ecclesiastical tithe is called 
the guar ant ese, or fortieth, and is taken in kind. 
A prosecution by a clergyman for his tithe is 
nearly unknown. There are no pluralities, and re- 
sidence is strictly enforced. In Rome, the ordinary 
income of a cardinal, the next in dignity in the 
church to the pope fequal to our archbishops), is 
from four hundred to five hundred a year; and as 



150 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

ancient usage entails certain expenses on their rank, 
when in public, they have very little left for private 
comforts. The ecclesiastics who serve the churches in 
Rome, and who are seen clothed in the gorgeous vest- 
ments of their splendid worship, like many others, who 
take part in the pompous scenes, retire from them to 
very humble homes ; and with scanty incomes from the 
church, engage in tuition and other pursuits, to add to 
the means of their support. — The pope, as a temporal 
prince, is personally the least expensive one in Europe. 
It has been said, that five shillings a day pays the 
expense of his table. What a deplorable want of 
dignity must this be thought by Dr. Howley and his 
brother bishops I 



EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN AUSTRIA. 

In Austria, exclusive of its Hungarian and 
Italian subjects, there are about nineteen millions 
of inhabitants, who maintain 19,000 clergymen for 
about 950,000Z. annually. Joseph II. led the way, 
about fifty years since, to the suppression of the 
rich ecclesiastical establishments, and the equa- 
lization of the incomes of the episcopal and 
parochial clergy. He did not live to effect all 
his purposes ; but the events of late years have 
done much towards their accomplishment. The 
remaining monasteries are few, not rich, and not 
likely to survive the general example of appro- 
priating church property to the use of the State. 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 151 

EXPENDITURE OF THE CHURCH IN SWITZERLAND. 

Every thing is cheap and simple in Switzerland ; 
so that we are not surprised to find seventeen 
hundred ecclesiastics, who are maintained for the 
sum of 87,000Z. annually, or about 501. each 
individual. But what is more pleasing, is the 
absence of all religious bigotry, which is so com- 
plete, that in many parts of Switzerland, par- 
ticularly at Lausanne and Berne, is to be witnessed 
the truly gratifying sight of the two sects, Cal- 
vinists and Catholics, using the same church alter- 
nately at different hours. There is a communion 
table for the Protestants, and an altar for the 
Catholics. As one congregation is retiring, they 
meet the other which is coming to the same house 
of prayer ; where, with similar sincerity, but in 
forms and creeds that vary, they offer worship to 
the same divine being. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN PRUSSIA. 

In Prussia, there are about ten millions and a 
half of inhabitants, who maintain 9,578 priests, 
for the sum of 527,000Z. England boasts of its 
toleration, most absurdly, while even the despotic 
state of Prussia sets it a glorious example of free- 
dom in religious matters. All sects are there upon 
an equal footing. No sectarian differences oppose 
the pretensions of persons of superior merit ; and 
it is a curious thing, that while of ten millions and 



152 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

a half of Prussians, there are six millions of Lu- 
therans, and four millions of Catholics, the King 
and the Royal Family are Presbyterians, of which 
faith there are only three hundred thousand of the 
inhabitants, — What a contrast is this to the mise- 
rable policy of England, which so long rendered the 
Catholics proscribed dependants, lest the Protestant 
Church should be endangered ! In Prussia, the 
regular extinction of the civil power of the clergy 
is steadily pursued. Frederic the Great began by 
taxing the bishops fifty per cent, on their landed 
estates, The canonries of the chapters are still of 
considerable value ; but, at the death of the pre- 
sent incumbents, their revenues become the pro- 
perty of the public. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN THE MINOR GERMAN STATES. 

The minor German States, comprising Bavaria, 
Wirtemburg, Hanover, Saxony, and twenty-two 
other Sovereign States, with four cities, contain 
about twelve millions and a half of inhabitants, 
and maintain 11,600 clergymen for the sum of 
765,OOOZ. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN HOLLAND AND THE 
NETHERLANDS. 

In these countries, five millions of inhabitants 
maintain 4,500 clergymen, at the annual cost of 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 153 

265,000/., being at the rate of about 80,000/- for 
every million of people, which is higher than any 
other of the Continental States. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN DENMARK. 

The Danes are Lutherans ; and 1,700,000 per- 
sons maintain 1,586 clergymen, at an expense of 
119,000/. The revenue of the Bishop is but four 
hundred per annum. The church property of Den- 
mark was appropriated to the services of the State, 
in 1536 ; and the appropriation was so general as 
to include the temporalities of the bishops. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE CHURCH IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 

About three millions and a half of people main- 
tain 3,100 clergymen, for 238,000/. annually. 
The property in this country which had been 
accumulated into the hands of the clergy, was 
appropriated to the service of the State by Gus- 
tavus Vasa. The expenses of his army involved 
him in a heavy debt, and he publicly declared, in 
1526, his resolution of reducing the number of 
oppressing and idle Priests and Monks, who, under 
pretence of religion, fattened on the spoils of the 
industrious people. As the majority of the nation 
was with him, the property was applied to the use 
of the state, without much difficulty. 



154 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

EXPENDITURE ON THE CLERGY IN RUSSIA. 

The income of the Russian churches — Greek, 
Catholic, and Lutheran — amounts to 910,000/., and 
maintains 74,270 clergymen ; but this sum is very 
unequally divided — thirty-four millions of the 
Greek church contributing but 510,000/., while 
eight millions of Catholics and Lutherans pay 
40,009/. 



In Turkey, the Priesthood of six millions of 
Christians is estimated to cost 1 80,000/. 

In South America, fifteen millions are estimated 
to contribute about 450,000/. annually to the 
Church. The estimated expenditure on the clergy 
of the remaining small Christian communities, dis- 
persed in various parts of the world, is 150,000/. 
levied upon three millions of people. 

From these calculations, it appears that the people 
have every where, except in England, cast off the 
prejudice, that it was necessary to yield up a large 
portion of their property , mad the fruit of their labour, 
to be consumed by a numerous body of idle and 
luxurious ecclesiastics. 

We shall give, directly, a Table of the state of 
the Church of England. 

This is the only grand monument of church- 
wealth remaining in the world, which shews the 
influence and dominion over the minds and property 
of men, which the clergy have had the power to 
exert, in the ages of darkness and superstition, 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 155 

before the art of printing, and the consequent dif- 
fusion of knowledge and education. 



EXPENDITURE ON THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF ENGLAND 
AND IRELAND. 

In England and Wales, the number of the 
hearers of the Established Church is estimated at 
six millions and a half ; which is a very excessive 
calculation. The number of clergymen of the 
Establishment is set down at sixteen thousand, 
with an income, in England alone, of seven 

MILLIONS, SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS PER 

ANNUM. 

In Ireland, the Established Church has 500,000 
hearers, seventeen hundred clergymen, and a re- 
venue of one MILLION FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY- 
SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SEVEN 

pounds per annum. 

The remaining six millions of the population of 
England and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, amount- 
ing to thirteen millions, pay to 7,448 of their own 
clergymen, about 836 5 000Z. per annum ! which 
brings the salaries of the Catholic and Dissenting 
ministers to something near the ordinary average 
of the rest of the Christian world, if the difference 
in the value of money be taken into the calculation. 
The great comparative account between the 
Church of England, and the Christian world, then, 



156 



THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 



stands exhibited in the annexed tables ; and when 
it is fairly considered, and duly reflected upon, it 
will be admitted to furnish as extraordinary an 
instance of rapacity, on the one hand, and of folly on 
the other, as can be found in the long list of the 
instances of the presumption of despotism, and the 
easy credulity of its ignorant and voluntary dupes. 



TABLE I. 

Expenditure on the Clergy of all the Christian World, except 
the Kingdoms of Great Britain, Wales, and Ireland. 



Name of the Nation. 



France 

United States . . . 

Spain 

Portugal 

Hungary, Catholics 
Calvinists 
Lutherans 

Italy 

Austria 

Switzerland .... 

Prussia 

German Small States 

Holland 

Netherlands .... 

Denmark 

Sweden 

Russia, Greek Church . 
Catholics & Lutherans 

Christians in Turkey 

South America . . . 

Christians dispersed else- 1 
where . . ^ 

The Clergy of . 



Number of 
Hearers. 



30,000,000 
9,600,000 

11,000,000 

3,000,000 

4,000,000 

1,000,000 

650,000 

19,391,000 

18,918,000 
1,720,000 

10,536,000 

12,763,000 
2,000,000 
6,000,000 
1,700,000 
3,400,000 

34,000,000 
8,000,000 
6,000,000 

15,000,000 

3,000,000 



Expenditure 

on the clergy 

per million 

of hearer*. 



£'35,000 
60,000 
100,000 
100,000 
80,000 
60,000 
40,000 
40,000 
50,000 
50,000 
50,000 
60,000 
80,000 
42,000 
70,000 
70,000 
15,000 
50,000 
30,000 
30,000 

50,000 



Total amount of 
the Expenditure 
in each Nation. 



£1,050,000 

576,000 

1,100,000 

300,000 

320,000 

63,000 

26,000 

776,000 

950,000 

87,000 

527,000 

765,000 

160,000 

252,000 

119,000 

238,000 

510,000 

409,000 

180,000 

450,000 

150,000 



201,728,000 receive £8,999,000 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 



157 



TABLE II. 

Expenditure on the Clergy of the Established Church of England 
and Ireland. 



P«Jame of the Nation. 


Number of 
Hearers 


Expenditure 

on the clergy 

per million 

of hearers. 


Total amount of 
the Expenditure 
in each Nation. 


England and Wales 
Ireland .... 


6,500,000 
500,000 


£1,455,316 
2,853,174 


£9,459,565 
1,426,587 



TABLE III. 

Expenditure on the Clergy of the Established Church of Scotland. 



Number of 
Hearers. 


Expenditure on 

the clergy per 

million of hearers. 


Total amount of 
the Expenditure. 


1,500,000 


£166,666 


£250,000 



The value of English church property will 
be found put down at a much lower estimate than 
the true one ; in fact, if the full produce of the 
tithes were set down for England and Wales, it would 
exceed the amount in the Table. The Irish tithe 
robs the land of more than two millions, though the 
church may not receive so much, as it is com- 
pelled to employ an army of proctors, to collect 
them, which must be fed and paid out of them. 
Thus, the estimates in these calculations may be 
confidently relied upon as not exceeding the truth. 

The intrigue between church and state has pro- 
duced many plagues, and not one benefit ; all its 



158 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

offspring are mischiefs. Inmost of the old states, 
religion is evidently on the decline. In America, 
on the contrary, it is evidently on the increase ; — so 
that a State religion is proved to be unnecessary on 
any religious account : and if it be only useful to 
rulers, as a means of creating a race of political de- 
luders on political subjects, by hiring the Clergy in 
support of the government, the sooner such a system 
is reformed the better. 

"We should, therefore, give the amount of 
Church Property, which can be resorted to, 
for the use of the State The total value of 
church property, sold at twenty-five years' pur- 
chase, is estimated at 204,450,000Z., or about 
one-fourth of the funded debt ; but it is evident 
that such a measure cannot be carried in an 
assembly of those who are fattening upon the 
spoil which it is proposed to take from them. 
The funds of the English church may be con- 
sidered as the retaining fees of the younger branches 
of the aristocracy ; as a species of political tax, 
devised with more than ordinary cunning, and 
levied in a mode that is intended to disguise its na- 
ture. In the established church, the priesthood is 
a regular trade, like the army, the navy, and the 
bar. The bishop, who is chosen by the crown, 
has control over all, and can refuse to admit any 
opposed to his delegated usurpation. Religion has 
nothing to do with the matter. The father of a 
family looks about to see were his interest lies, — 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 159 

that is, to see what service he can render Corrup- 
tion, in order to get a portion of the good things 
that she has at her disposal. If he think he can 
reach church preferment, he makes one son a priest, 
as he makes another a soldier, a sailor, or a barris- 
ter ! It is a very convenient line for a simpleton ; 
as neither talent nor virtue are requisite for ordina- 
tion, but an implicit devotion to the " powers that 
be," which a blockhead is far more likely to pay 
than a wise man ! 

Sir Charles Wolsely published an excellent ad- 
dress upon the subject of tithes to the farmers of 
Staffordshire ; and we have some hopes, that the 
Parliament will follow the advice he gives, in con- 
formity with the legal decision, that where there 
is no profit, there can be no liability to the 
payment of tithes. A steady determination to act 
upon this principle, would soon induce even the 
dignitaries of the church, to become friendly to re- 
form, as the only means of securing their own interests. 
A bad system of government, by exhausting the pre- 
sent, and by anticipating the future resources of the 
nation, has at last reached that monstrous climax 
of consumption, which renders the land utterly 
unable to bear the burthens that are imposed 
upon it. It affords no profit, speaking generally; 
and in a short period, this will be universally the 
case. The gross produce of the land of England 
and Wales, is not more than to the value of 150 
millions. The government takes fifty millions of 



160 THE WEALTH OF THE ENGLISH 

this sum in taxation. The church takes ten mil- 
lions more in tithes. The poor's rate, and other 
local rates, amount to nearly eight millions more ; 
making a subtraction from the gross produce, of 
about sixty-eight millions — which would be a great 
deal more than double the amount of the profits of 
the produce, at prices which would remunerate the 
farmer. But when it is considered that the culti- 
vators are now actually losing by the produce, 
and that this sixty-eight millions is to be added 
to their loss, instead of being taken from their 
profits, we cannot fail to perceive, that it is utterly 
impossible for the thing to last ; and that it is the 
common interest of all to put an end to it as soon 
as possible, by the introduction of a new and equit- 
able system. But it is the Parliament that must do 
this. The payers of tithes must petition for the re- 
moval of the evil, and shew that they are losing by 
the cultivation of their land. They must, also, as 
resolutely revert to the conditions on which tithes 
were originally granted ; and endeavour to enforce 
their application to the legal purposes for which 
they were granted. 

The clergy have no claim, by law, to any more 
than one-third of the produce of the tithes. The 
length of time during which they have usurped 
the whole, gives them no more legal claim to the 
whole, than the diversion of any other charitable 
fund from its original purpose. When a case of 
this latter description is brought before the Lord 



AND OTHER CHURCHES. 161 

Chancellor, if the parties were to plead the length of 
time which the funds had been misapplied, he would 
tell them that they aggravated their case, and must 
restore to the proper objects what they have been 
plundering them of ; and though it is to be sup- 
posed that, in the first instance, the dignitaries of 
<\e law will be disposed to favour the dignitaries 
of the church ; yet, at last, law and reason may be 
found too strong for them all ! 

It is a common practice with some people, to say, 
that they will go on as long as they can ! Those who 
do this, will go on till they have nothing left, for 
which it is worth their while to make any exertion. 
Why, then, do they say they will go on as long as 
they can with a system which has, guinea by guinea, 
taken away all their profits, and which is now taking 
away all their capital, still more rapidly than it 
destroyed their profits ? Finally — With justice to 
themselves, with justice to their country, they can 
go on no longer. They have reached the very edge 
of the precipice ; and if they do not recede, they 
must inevitably seal their fate as slaves for ever, 
and bind their posterity in everlasting chains. 

Let the payers think seriously on these matters 
before it be — too late ! 



M 



162 



CHAP. XIII. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 

It has always been accounted good policy, in the 
church of Rome, to withhold the Scriptures from 
the laity, and to perform the public worship of God 
in Latin, a language unknown to the people. A 
religion founded on the infallible judgment of one 
man, and requiring from the rest of mankind an 
absolute submission to his dictates, ought not to 
be examined ; for, should the people emerge from 
credulity, and rise into the exercise of reason, the 
bold pretender to infallibility would tumble from 
the pinnacle of pontifical dignity into a gulph of 
universal contempt. 

That wise and vigorous set of men, the Pro- 
testant Reformers, broke open the papal cabinet, 
exposed the pretended titles of the pope to public 
view, and did all in their power to simplify re- 
ligion, and to reduce it to its original plainness 
and purity. They laid open the inspired writings, 
they taught the right of private judgment, and they 
summoned all mankind to enter into that liberty 
with which Christ had made them free. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 163 

If these men had a fault, it lay in the breadth of 
the scale of their operations. They aimed to con- 
vert whole nations at once, and to change their 
customs in a day. Many religious customs were 
incorporated with civil rights. It was irreligion in 
ecclesiastics to exercise civil government, and it 
became, therefore, essential to the accomplishment 
of their plan, to call in the aid of secular powers. 
Secular powers readily assisted them ; but, at the 
same time, obliged them to keep measures with 
royal prerogatives, court factions, the intrigues of 
the old clergy, and the prejudices of the common 
people. They therefore left the reformation un- 
finished, and died in hopes that their successors 
would complete, in happier days, what they had 
begun. Far from entering into this just and liberal 
design, we seem to have lost sight of it, and to 
have adopted principles subversive of the whole. 
We seem to have discarded piety, and adopted 
luxury ; and the few who have not given up all 
sense of shame, endeavour to conceal the scandal 
under a cover of superstition. Thus, says Robin- 
son, we aifect modesty, and dance naked to hide 
our shame ! 

Superstition is to religion, says one, what astro- 
logy is to astronomy — the foolish daughter of a 
wise mother. These two have long subjugated 
mankind. We have no objection, in general, 
against days of fasting and prayer; they have 
always the advantage of retaining a scriptural form 

m2 



164 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 

of godliness ; they are often edifying, and some- 
times necessary. Nor do we find fault with those 
Christians who make conscience of observing all 
the festivals of their own churches. They have a 
right to judge for themselves, and their sincerity 
will be rewarded. Neither will we suppose that 
all the English clergy have been deficient in teach- 
ing their people, that practical religion divides itself 
into the two parts of moral obligations and positive 
institutes ; that the first are universal, unalterable, 
and eternal ; and that the latter were appointed by 
the legislature to serve the purposes of the former. 
But as the cause of moral rectitude can never be 
pleaded too often, nor the nature of it explained 
too clearly, — as superstition is very apt to invade 
the rights of religion, and as numbers who have 
great interest in these articles have not leisure to 
trace them through folios, — it may not be unsea- 
sonable, and we trust it will not be deemed imper- 
tinent, to expose to public view, briefly, the his- 
tory, the authority, the piety, and the polity of 
church holidays. To discuss one, is to examine all; 
and we select for this purpose that day, on which, 
it is reputed, the Founder of our holy religion was 
crucified ; commonly called Good Friday. 

Let no one blame an historian who does not 
begin before his records ; it is not his fault, — it is 
his virtue. Strictly speaking, all documents in 
Protestant churches should be found in the holy 
canon ; for the people of each church refer an 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 165 

inquisitive man to their clergy, their clergy refer 
him to their printed confessions of faith, and all 
their confessions refer him to scripture. There 
are many ceremonies in some Protestant churches 
which do not pretend to derive themselves from 
scripture immediately ; but they were appointed, 
they say, by those who were appointed by scrip- 
ture to ordain them. The examination of this ap- 
pointment does not fall under this part of the 
inquiry; it will be spoken of hereafter. It is 
sufficient to say, that Good Friday is a ceremony 
of this sort, and that the original records of Chris- 
tianity say nothing about it. 

No one evangelist, nor all the four together, 
narrate the whole history of Jesus Christ, nor 
yet all the circumstances of those parts on which 
they enlarge most. St. John, the last of these histo- 
rians, closes his history with a declaration that 
many things relative to Jesus Christ were not writ- 
ten. The times of the birth and crucifixion of our 
Saviour are so written in these authentic records, 
that nothing certain can be determined concerning 
them. All who have pretended to settle these 
periods, are conjecturers, and not historians, as 
their variety proves. There is only one opinion in 
the whole Christian world concerning the country 
of Jesus Christ, and the place of his nativity : all 
allow he was a Jew, and born at Bethlehem. 
We should be equally uniform in our belief of the 
times of his birth and crucifixion. Let us respect 



166 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 

the silence of the oracles of God. No argument 
can be drawn from it to endanger Christianity. A 
point of chronology is not an object of saving faith, 
nor is zeal for an undecided question any part of 
that holiness without which none shall see the 
Lord. The inspired writers did not design to make 
laws about feasts, but to enforce the practice of 
piety and virtue. 

The first congregations of Christians consisted of 
native Jews, Jewish proselytes, and Pagans of 
different countries, and of various sects. Each 
class brought into the Christian church some of 
their old prejudices, and endeavoured to incorpo- 
rate them with the doctrine and worship of Chris- 
tianity. The apostles guarded against this unna- 
tural union, and during their lives prevented the 
profession of it ; but after their decease they were 
made to coalesce, and from this coalition came 
Good Friday and other church holidays. Chris- 
tianity affirmed the facts ; proselyte mathemati- 
cians guessed at the time ; pretended scholars 
accommodated prophecy and history to the fa- 
vourite periods ; and devotional men, whose 
whole knowledge consisted in an art of turning 
popular notions to pious purposes, began to 
observe the days themselves. By the austerity of 
their examples, they gave them a sanctimonious 
air to others, and recommended them to the obser- 
vation of all who chose to be accounted pious as 
well as wise. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 167 

We hear nothing of Easter till the second cen- 
tury, and then we find Polycarp, Anicetus, and 
others, conferring on the time of keeping it, cele- 
brating it at different times, and exercising a mu- 
tual toleration, notwithstanding their differences. 
Jesus Christ was crucified at the time of the Jewish 
passover. The Christians of Asia celebrated Easter 
on the fourteenth day of the moon, according to the 
law of Moses, on whatever day of the week it fell, so 
that if they kept some years a Good Friday, they 
also kept in other years a Good Monday, Good 
Saturday, or Good any day ; for the day of Christ's 
crucifixion must be at its due distance from the 
day of his resurrection. These eastern Christians 
pretended that St. John kept Easter so. The 
western churches used to observe the Sunday after 
the fourteenth day of the March moon, and they said 
St. Peter and St. Paul always did so. If these 
Christians could not convince one another in times 
so near to those of the apostles, it is not likely that 
we should be able to determine the time of Easter 
at a distance of nearly two thousand years. 

About the year a. d. 190, Victor I., then Bishop 
of Rome, had the audacity to excommunicate those 
Christians who kept Easter on the fourteenth day 
of the moon. The excommunicated pitied his 
pride, and persevered in their practice. The Ro- 
man bishops intrigued, caballed, got councils 
called, and at length the council of Aries, held 
a.d. 314, having, no doubt, the fear of God before 



168 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 

their eyes, and being endued with more wisdom, 
more power, or more presumption than their pre- 
decessors, decreed that all churches should cele- 
brate Easter on the Sunday after the fourteenth of 
the moon of March, when that moon should hap- 
pen after the vernal equinox. Eleven years after- 
wards, the council of Nice confirmed this decree, 
and the Emperor Cons tan tine enforced it by orders 
sent into all the provinces of the empire. The 
council did not think to provide for one difficulty 
which might arise, and which might produce a 
new discussion, and throw down that idol uni- 
formity, which these Christian Nebuchadnezzars 
had committed so many crimes to set up. The 
fourteenth day of the full moon in March might 
fall on a Sunday. It did so. A difficulty was 
started, and different opinions followed. The 
eastern churches celebrated Easter on the day of 
the full moon, when it fell on a Sunday in March. 
The western churches deferred it to the Sunday 
following. How could a synod of three hundred- 
and-eighteen bishops, who were but men, foresee 
this difficulty ? 

In the seventh century, Oswy, one of the petty 
kings, having been instructed in the Christian 
religion by Scotch monks, kept Easter after the 
Asiatic fashion ; while his Queen, who had been 
taught by a Roman priest, observed it in the 
western manner. Thus, it sometimes happened, that 
his majesty was joyfully celebrating our Saviour's 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 169 

resurrection, while the queen was fasting on 
account of his crucifixion ! To get rid of this in- 
convenience, the king summoned a council to 
meet at Withby, to determine the original of 
Easter. The clergy, on the one side, rested their 
cause on tradition derived from St. John, while 
the clergy, on the other, urged that which came 
from St. Peter. The king was judge ; the balance 
inclined neither way, and he was long perplexed 
with authorities quite equal. At length, being 
informed that however great St. John might be, 
St. Peter kept the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, 
the king very prudently took care of the main 
chance, declared for St. Peter, and Easter has 
fallen on a Sunday in England ever since ! 

Good Friday had the fate of all other holidays : it 
had a solemn service composed for it ; and, being 
established by the civil power, the people were 
obliged to fast, and to pray, and to sing, and so 
on to the end of the chapter. 

When Henry VIII. reformed the British church, 
although he discarded many festivals, he yet 
thought proper to retain Easter, and Lent, its ap- 
pendage. The old service was afterwards new 
vamped; and during the succeeding reigns of Eliza- 
beth and the Stuarts, many were persecuted for 
refusing to comply with it. That inestimable 
prince, William III., procured a toleration, the 
present august family protect it, and the inhabi- 



170 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS. 

tants of Britain now enjoy the liberty of keeping 
festivals, or of renouncing them, at their pleasure. 
The history, then, is briefly this : Neither Good 
Friday, nor any other good day, fasts or feasts, were 
appointed to be observed, by Jesus Christ or his 
apostles. The time of Christ's birth cannot be 
made out, and that of his crucifixion is uncertain. 
Could we assure ourselves of the year, we could 
not prove that the Jews observed the regressions 
of the equinox, nor that they made use of accurate 
astronomical tables. No traces of Easter are to be 
found in the first century, nor for a great part of 
the second. When the first observers of it appear- 
ed, they could not make out evidence of their com- 
ing honestly by it. Councils decreed that it should 
not be kept before the 21st of March, nor after the 
20th of April. Some, however, kept it on the 
22nd of April, while others celebrated it on the 
25th of March; others, at times, different from both, 
and others kept no day at all. Our ancestors mur- 
dered one another for variety of opinion on this 
subject ; but we are fallen under wiser and better 
governors, who allow us to think and act as we 
please, provided the state receive no injury. Thus 
the language of scripture is spoken by the laws of 
our country : "He who regardeth a day, let him 
regard it to the Lord ; and he who regardeth not a 
day to the Lord, let him not regard it." 



171 



CHAP. XIV. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

Dull and uninteresting as this poor subject may 
be, as an article of history, it becomes extremely 
important, when it is foisted into the religion of 
Christ, enjoined on all Christian people, under pain 
of God's displeasure, and considered as the livery 
of loyalty and piety. In such a case, the disciples 
of the Son of God are compelled to inquire, whose 
are we, and whom do we serve ? His we are whom 
we obey. 

Should a man form an idea of the Christian 
church from reading the New Testament, in which 
Jewish ceremonies are said to be a yoke, which 
neither the Jews of Christ's time, nor their ances- 
tors were able to bear, — in which those rites are 
called weak and beggarly elements, — rudiments of 
the world, — shadows of good things to come, of 
which Christ was the substance ; — should he then 
behold a Christian church laden with ceremonies of 
Pagan and Jewish extraction, there would naturally 
arise a violent prejudice in his mind against such 



172 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

a Christian church, and he would be obliged to 
inquire what Joab had a hand in this alteration ? 

It must be allowed, that consummate wisdom, 
cool and unbiassed judgment, rectitude the most 
rigid, and benevolence and power the most ex- 
tensive, are absolute and indispensable qualifications 
in religious legislation. The nature of God and 
man ; the relation of each to the other, and of 
both to all ; the countless conditions and circum- 
stances of all the rest of mankind; the kind of 
worship, and the manner of performing it ; the 
necessary requisitions of justice, and the proper 
effusions of goodness, with a thousand other arti- 
cles, form one grand complex whole, which would 
baffle all, except infinite penetration, in forming a 
system of real religion. 

As an assumption of legislative power in religion 
is an ascent to the most elevated degree of honour, 
and as it requires a kind of submission to which 
human dignity is loth to bow, so, it must be sup- 
posed, the clearest evidence of a right to exercise 
it is naturally expected. No blind submission ; 
no precarious titles ; no spurious records ; no 
popular clamour ; nothing but clear revelation, 
interpreted by accurate reasoning, can be taken as 
evidence here. An immortal intelligence is the 
noblest production of infinite power and skill ; when 
it pays its homage to the Deity it is in its noblest 
exercise; and no mean guide must conduct such a 
being then. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 173 

On these just principles I take up church holi- 
days, where I find them, as part of the established 
religion of my country ; and I modestly inquire the 
authority that made them so ? A few old women 
refer me to the fourth verse of the twelfth chapter 
of Acts for the word Easter, and I return the com- 
pliment by referring them to their grandsons at 
school, who say St. Luke wrote passover. I could, 
were I inclined to revenge, be even with these old 
ladies, by telling them the tale of Lady Easter, 
Ashtar, or Ashtaroth, a Sidonian toast ; but I am 
too busy, and too placid now, and I take my leave 
of this goddess, and also of the godly translator, 
who profaned a Jewish fast, by nick-naming it 
after a pagan prostitute, and laid the blame on in- 
nocent St. Luke. 

The established clergy do not pretend to support 
their festivals by authority of scripture ; but they 
say, their legal authority arises from that Act of 
Parliament which ratified the thirty- nine articles of 
their faith, one of which affirms, " the church hath 
power to decree rites and ceremonies, and authority 
in controversies of faith/' This clause is said by 
them to mean, that the " governors of the church 
have power to determine what shall be received 
and professed for truth among the members of the 
church, and to bind them to submission to their sen- 
tence, though they err in their sentence. " These 
are their own words. 

The thirty- nine articles were first produced in a 



174 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

convocation of the clergy, a.d. 1562; they were 
reviewed by another convocation in 1571 ; and were 
afterwards ratified by Parliament. It is an unques- 
tionable fact, that the religion of all the good people of 
the church of England, was, in 1562, put to the vote 
of one hundred-and-seventeen priests, many of whom 
could hardly write their names, and several of whom 
were not present, and voted by proxy ; and that cere- 
monies and holidays were carried by a majority of one 
single vote, and that vote given by proxy. Whether 
the absent member, who had the casting vote, 
were talking, or journeying, or hunting, or sleep- 
ing, is immaterial ; he was the God Almighty of 
this article of English religion, and his power de- 
creed rites and ceremonies, and matters of high 
behest ! 

The insertion of the before-mentioned clause of 
the church's power in the twentieth article, was 
an infamous piece of priestcraft. It is not in King 
Edward's articles ; it is not in the original manu- 
scripts subscribed by the convocation, and still 
preserved in Bene't College, Cambridge, among 
the papers of Bishop Parker, who was president 
of the assembly ; it was not in the printed book 
ratified by Parliament ; it was not in the Latin 
translation of those times ; nor did it shew itself 
till twenty-two years after, as Heylin and other 
high churchmen allow. 

Subscription to this clause is mere mummery ; 
for what does it mean? The church power to 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 175 

decree rites and ceremonies ! An absolute false- 
hood. One person in this church, and one person 
only, has power to decree rites and ceremonies ! The 
common people pretend to none. The clergy have 
introduced organs, pictures, candles on the com- 
munion table, bowing towards the east, and placing 
the communion table altarwise ; and Wrangham, 
Archdeacon of Cleveland, has introduced, or some 
one of his predecessors did so, a trumpet, nearly 
four feet long, I should judge, into his church at 
Hunmanby, for one of his performers to sing bass 
through. I made his clerk, when I visited the 
diocese of York, in 1829, perform on it, and a 
most ludicrous effect it had ; but they have had 
no right to do these things ; for, as the " Common 
Prayer Book" no where enjoins them, they are ex- 
pressly prohibited by the Act of Uniformity, which 
says, no rites, or ceremonies shall be used in any 
church, other than what is prescribed and ap- 
pointed to be used in and by the " Common 
Prayer Book." By what effrontery does a priest 
allow a long trumpet, and fiddles, and organs, in 
public worship, after he has subscribed to a 
homily which declares them to be superstitious ? 
Or with what presumption does he dare, in direct 
opposition to Act of Parliament, to invade a pre- 
rogative that belongs to the crown ? Neither a 
convocation, nor a House of Commons, nor a 
House of Lords, nor all together, have a power to 
decree rites, ceremonies, and articles of faith in the 



176 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

established church of England ; the constitution 
has confirmed it as a royal prerogative, and an- 
nexed it to the imperial crown of this realm. 

In former times, our kings ceded this prerogative 
to the pope ; at the Reformation they reclaimed it ; 
and long after the Reformation they refused to 
suffer the other branches of the legislature to 
examine or to meddle with it ; but in later times 
this prerogative was bounded, and now it is re- 
strained to the national established church. By 
the Act of Toleration, the crown agreed to resign, 
and in effect it did actually resign, this prerogative 
in regard to the nonconformists ; and this cession 
is become a part of the constitution by the autho- 
rity of the whole legislative power of the British 
empire. The mode of restraint, indeed, is not so 
explicit as it might have been, but the fact is un- 
deniable. 

The English nonconformists think civil govern- 
ment to be natural, necessary, and of divine appoint- 
ment ; they suppose the form of it to be arbitrary, 
andleft to the free choice of allnations under heaven; 
theybelieve the form of mixed monarchy to be the best 
for England ; but were they in Venice, they would 
yield civil obedience to aristocracy, — in Holland, to 
a republic, — or in Spain, to an absolute monarchy ; 
the best mode of civil government making no part 
of their religion. They think that in all states 
impliedly, and in the British most expressly, there 
subsists an original contract between the prince and 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 177 

the people ; they believe the limitation of regal pre- 
rogative to be by bounds so certain, that it is im- 
possible a prince should ever exceed them without 
the consent of the people, one of the principal bul- 
warks of civil liberty ; they think that there are ordi- 
nary courses of law clearly established, and not to 
be disobeyed, and they believe that there are extraor- 
dinary recources to first principles necessary when 
the contracts of society are in danger of dissolution. 
They think these principles alone to be the basis 
of prerogative and liberty, of the king's title to the 
crown, and of that freedom which they enjoy under 
his auspicious reign. And these, their sentiments, 
are those of the wisest philosophers, the ablest 
lawyers, and the most accomplished statesmen that 
England ever produced. 

The English nonconformists absolutely deny all 
human authority in matters of religion ; they deny 
it to all civil governments of every form ; they con- 
sider Christ to be the sole head of the Christian 
church, and the scriptures to be his only code of con- 
science law. All the articles of their belief are 
contained in his doctrine ; all their hopes of obtain- 
ing immortal felicity in his mediation ; all their 
moral duties in the great law of nature explained 
by revelation ; and all their religious rites and eccle- 
siastical law, in his positive institutes, unexplained, 
or rather unperplexed by humancreeds. They say 
that Christ himself does not require obedience without 

N 



178 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

evidence ; that they submit to him as God gave him, 
as a prophet, a priest, and a king, on the fullest 
proof; they say that their religion has nothing hos- 
tile to civil government, but is highly beneficial to it ; 
that although it is no part of it to determine the 
best form, yet it is a part of it to submit in civil 
matters to the powers that be. On these princi- 
ples they justify the apostles for enforcing Chris- 
tianity, when earthly governors rejected it; the 
first missionaries who subverted established reli- 
gions by propagating it ; the reformation from 
popery ; and the revolution that dethroned high 
church tyranny. For their civil principles they are 
ready to die as Britons, and for their religious ones 
as Christians. 

But we have lost church holidays ! — no wonder. 
Good Friday is a libel against the King of kings ; 
and always when loyal subjects approach him, the 
traitor lurks behind, skulks among popes and 
priests, and hides his guilty head in a cowl, mut- 
tering, — The church hath power to decree rites 
and ceremonies. — Ah, sirrah ! 

The article of authority, then, amounts to this. 
In that system of religion which proceeds on the 
principles of the perfection and sufficiency of scrip- 
ture, and the sole legislation of Jesus Christ, church 
holidays are nonentities. In those systems which 
allow human authority, they rest on the power 
that appoints them. In this happy country, the 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 179 

power that appoints them is constitutionally 
bounded, and has agreed to spend its force on as 
many as choose to submit to it, and to exert itself 
against all who dare to impede others, who choose 
to renounce it. So that the authority which ap- 
points a Good Friday ceremonial, has just as much 
influence over a British subject as he himself 
chooses to give it. If he choose to be a member 
of the national church, to which certainly there are 
many worldly inducements, he allows human au- 
thority over conscience, and he ought, in con- 
science (if it be possible for conscience to agree to 
its own dissolution) , to keep the fast : but if he 
think proper to dissent, to which certainly there 
are strong religious inducements, he is protected in 
disowning the authority, and the obligation is void. 
When human wisdom affects to adorn a religion of 
divine revelation, it presumes to paint a diamond, 
or to lace and embroider the seamless coat of one, 
whose simplicity is his evidence and his church's 
glory. When such as St. Austin and St. Gregory, 
primitive manufacturers of trumpery, imported 
their bales, and offered their wares to the British 
church, they were objects of pity or contempt ; but 
when they presumed to use coercive measures, to 
make the denizens of heaven purchase their trash ; 
when a pope, like Judas, came in the night with 
halberds, and swords, and staves, — Merciful 
God 1 couldst thou be angry with our ancestors 

n 2 



180 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

for hand-cuffing the felon, and whipping him out of 
their isle ! The punishment was too little for the 
crime. They should have burnt even his rags 
with fire ! 

" The fury fiend, with many a felon deed, 
Had stirr'd up mickle mischievous despight." 



181 



CHAP. XV. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

If piety be the discharge of duty toward God, 
there are only two short questions to answer. 
First, is the observation of an annual fast in com- 
memoration of the death of Christ, a duty required 
by almighty God ? Next, how is this duty dis- 
charged by those who think it to be such ? 

All the duties which God requires of mankind, 
are contained in the moral law. Moral obligations 
are founded in the nature and fitness of things. 
There is a fitness between the care of a parent and 
the obedience of a child. Filial obedience is, 
therefore, a moral duty. There is a fitness be- 
tween civil government and taxes. Governors 
protect subjects ; and subjects ought, therefore, to 
support governors. Taxes, for the necessary sup- 
port of government, are therefore dues, and the 
payment of them a moral obligation. But nobody 
ever yet pretended to make the celebration of 
Easter, a part of the moral law. 

The other class of duties, required of all Chris- 



182 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

tians, is contained in positive institutes. (Baptism 
is a positive institute.) They would not have been 
obligatory, they would not have been known, had 
not the Christian Legislator instituted them : and 
they are obeyed, now they are appointed, in proper 
submission to his authority. Rut has he appointed 
this fast ? Does it not wander about a mere beg- 
gar, actually destitute of every token of a legiti- 
mate divine institute ? 

Since the observation of church holidays is 
no part of piety, then, we are driven, for want of 
materials to fill up this article in decent guise, to 
the sad necessity of turning the tables, and of 
considering the impiety of that black and bloody 
day, commonly called Good Friday. Were we to 
collect into one aggregate sum the impious actions 
that belong to the introduction, the establishment, 
and the support of ceremonies, one of which is this 
day ; were we to balance accounts between moral 
law and human institutes, we should be obliged to 
charge to the latter a most enormous and ruinous 
sum. We should set down the unwarrantable im- 
plication of the imperfection of Christianity as 
Jesus Christ appointed it ; the incorrigible obsti- 
nacy of Judaising bunglers , who united a provincial 
ritual with an universal religion ; the rash enter- 
prises of minute philosophers, who associated the 
mummeries of Belial with the miracles of Christ ; 
the paltry babbling of traditionists, whose imper- 
tinence put on pretensions to give evidence to wise 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 183 

and grave men, by their senseless repetitions of 
" I hear say, that he heard say, that she heard 
say, that they heard say ;" the self-employed and 
uncommissioned racket of councils ; the daring 
achievements of those knights errant, the popes 
of Rome ; the base concessions and self-contra- 
dictions of their hierarchial squires ; their flatter- 
ing, betraying, befooling, deserting, and assassi- 
nating emperors and kings ; the subverting of all 
sound maxims of civil polity, every dictate of right 
reason, the sacred bonds of society, and the na- 
tural rights of mankind ; the degrading of magis- 
tracy, the banishment of thousands, the blood- 
shedding **** : (Oh, where shall we end !) **** all 
these under a mask of hypocrisy, a pious pretence 
of uniformity, the erection of a godly order in 
Christen states amonge the holye stock that Jesu boughte 
with hys owne bloode ! I know I shall be reputed a 
silly enthusiast for what I am going to say ; but 
what care I ? When the bells chime to call people 
to celebrate Good Friday, methinks they say to me, 
count the cost! #### thinking Christian, count the cost! 
I do so, and I weep. **** Am I not a fool ? **** 
I can't help it. **** I pour out floods of tears to 
think what human ceremonies have cost all man- 
kind, and particularly what a dreadful price my 
native country has paid for them ; and I wish, with 
Luther, that there were no feast days among 
Christians, except Sundays. 

All Christians are not of our opinion, Some 



184 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

think the observation of this day a duty of religion. 
Very well. I wish to be instructed. Permit me 
to see how the duty is discharged. The far greater 
part of the members of the established church pay no 
regard at all to Good Friday, nor do some of them 
know why it is appointed. But there is no piety in 
professing a religion which is neither understood nor 
obeyed. The greater part of opulent members of 
this community pay no other attention to the day 
than dining on fish, in preference to flesh. This is 
not piety. Numbers of the clergy read the ritual, 
and deliver a sermon composed by others; and thi& 
is their whole performance. Most artificers, and 
people of the lower class, imitate their superiors. 
Some of them do not observe the day at all; and 
others, who hate work worse than witchcraft, go 
in the morning to church, and in the evening to the 
alehouse, and there deposit piety till Easter Sunday, 
when they travel the same round again. Should a 
man lay aside secular affairs, abstain from food, 
dress in black, go to church, say after the parson, 
hear the sermon, and close the day without com- 
pany and cards, — who but a fanatic would pretend 
to arraign the conduct of this man ? And yet, 
most certain it is, he may do all these without 
performing one act of genuine piety. 

In short, there are two general parents of reli- 
gious action — custom and conscience. The first ger- 
minates, and produces a blind, sordid, sorry, crawl- 
ing lusus ; denominated religion, but which is really 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 185 

superstition. The latter, conscience, may be ener- 
vated by ignorance, sloth, scrupulosity, and secular 
interest ; and in this ill state of health may pro- 
duce a weak family of genuine moral virtues, and 
of silly deformed superstitions ; but, being right in 
the main, she will always pay her first and chief 
attention to her moral offspring. Positive insti- 
tutes, and even human inventions, may be obeyed 
by people of this kind ; but they will never encroach 
on the rights of natural, necessary, moral law. 
If the ceremonial of religion supply the place of 
religion itself, — if the former derogate from the 
latter, — if the former divert the attention of the 
latter, — it becomes a reprehensible superstition. 

What, then, shall we say of those whose whole 
piety lies in the observation of days, and times, and 
years ? We know what an inspired apostle said 
to such people — " I am afraid I have bestowed 
upon you labour in vain." Father of universal 
nature ! in vain hast thou given us capacity, 
learning, reason, and religion ; in vain does the 
knowledge of all antiquity shine around us ; in 
vain has the law of nature been explained to us by 
the writers of revelation ; in vain hast thou be- 
stowed thy best and richest gift — the gospel — on us, 
and a government that allows us to judge of it. 
We live in the open violation of all thy laws ; — we 
curse, and swear, and blaspheme ; we profane 
thy holy sabbaths ; we are guilty of drunkenness, 
debauchery, perjury, simony, bribery, impiety, and 



186 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

irreligion of all kinds ; our children are unedu- 
cated in religious principles ; our property is 
wasted in gaming and amusements, our priests 
and our prophets exemplify luxury, and we 
expect to avert all our deserved miseries, and to 
atone for all our impieties, by saying, Have we not 
fasted on Good Friday, and feasted on Easter 
Sunday ? The Jewish priests, at the worst of 
times, prophesied for hire, but some Christian 
priests take the hire, and prophesy not. They vote, 
indeed ! But say, ye plundered nabobs ! ye French 
Candian papists ! ye widows and orphans ! ye de- 
populated cities, and ruined commerce of rebellious 
colonists ! say, for what do British ministers of the 
Prince of Peace vote ? **** They vote that you 
and your children must fast on Good F riday ! 



187 



CHAP. XVI. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

Before Christianity was understood in the world, 
the first apologists for it thought themselves 
happy, as St. Paul expresses it, when they were 
called to defend it before equitable civil magistrates 
in courts of legal judicature. They had great 
reason to rejoice in these opportunities, for they 
taught a religion which recommended itself to all 
just governments, by its perfect agreement with 
civil polity. Primitive Christianity wanted only 
to be known — it was sure to gain ground by being 
understood. These divine men were able to say, 
— Is the origin of civil government sacred ? — We 
teach that civil government is ordained by God. 
Is the well-being of the whole the supreme law in 
civil polity ? — So it is in Christianity. Do the 
states flourish when the people yield a ready obe- 
dience to civil government, and venerate the dig- 
nity of magistracy? — Christianity inculcates this. 
Do temperance, industry, piety, and virtue, render 
states happy ?■ — Christianity forcibly inculcates 



188 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

these. Are states happy when discords do not pre- 
vail, when kind offices abound among citizens, when 
benevolence and philanthropy pervade the whole? 
— Christianity abolishes party factions and odious 
distinctions, and curbs the passions that produce 
them ; and as to universal love, it is the religion 
of Jesus itself. Do states enjoy tranquillity, when 
learning and liberty, conscience and virtue, are 
nourished, and when impartial equity rewards 
merit, and restrains and punishes vice ? — Chris- 
tianity does all these. Are states safe when they 
retain a constitutional power of redressing griev- 
ances, of insuring life, liberty, and property from 
foreign and domestic invasion, and of reducing all 
cases to one invariable standard of impartial and 
universal justice ?— Christianity inculcates prin- 
ciples productive of all this. No instance, there- 
fore, can be produced of our attempting to subvert 
civil government ; on the contrary, we are en- 
trusted with a conciliating plan of universal peace 
between secular and sacred things, by Jesus Christ. 
The corrupters of Christianity deprived it of 
this noble feature ; they bartered purity for power, 
exchanged argument for authority, and made a 
scandalous truck of all the truths and virtues of 
religion for the seals of a prince, and the keys of a 
jail. They invented words of inexplicable mystery, 
and inflicted penalties on those who could not 
interpret their dreams. They cast innumerable 
canons, and with them destroyed the lives, and 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 189 

liberties, and property of their peaceable brethren. 
They armed priests with secular power, and co- 
vered their barbarous use of it with infinite pomp. 
They excited princes to hate, persecute, banish, 
and burn their subjects for matters of conscience. 
They thought lay subjects beneath notice, kings 
above law, and themselves above kings. To their 
conduct it is owing that most great men consider 
religion as nothing more than an engine of state. 

We hope that Christianity will in time recover 
from these deadly wounds ; but healing and health 
must never be expected from such prescriptions as 
are made up of the false principles that produced 
the injury. The great and only object of such books 
as Hooker's Church Polity, and Gibson's Codex, 
is the support of the hierarchy. God knows, no 
positions can be less true, no principles more 
dangerous than those laid down in these compila- 
tions. Civilians, sufficiently feed, could build on 
them the whole fabric of popery ; for the evident 
drift of them is not only to render the church inde- 
pendent of the state, but to place the state in a 
condition of dependence on the church. Their 
system is false in itself, inconsistent with scripture, 
incompatible with the British constitution, and 
destructive of Christ's spiritual design. These 
writers have wrapped their sentiments in the dark 
clothing of metaphorical style, and there they lurk 
in seeming asylum. There is an imaginary being 
called the church governing, distinct from the 



190 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

church governed : this animal has sex, in violation 
of the English language., and the laws of precise 
argumentation. She is either married or a prosti- 
tute, for she is a mother, it seems, and has children. 
All this may he rhetoric, but it is not reason ; less 
still can it be called religion, and least of all is it 
that religion which Jesus taught, and which never 
diminishes the glory of civil polity. 

The religion of Christ is the most simple thing in 
the world. His church was not formed on the 
plan of the Jewish government, either of the state, 
temple, sanhedrim, or synagogue ; nor on that of 
any other state, either of Rome or of Athens. The 
decree of the Christian church at Jerusalem, called 
by mistake the first council, was not enforced by 
civil authority. Canons, in the primitive church, 
were devoid of coercion ; the Emperor Justinian 
adopted them, and metamorphosed them into civil 
law. There were, in the primitive church, no 
coercive powers ; particular churches were united 
only by faith and love, in all civil affairs they 
were governed by civil magistrates, and in sacred 
matters they were ruled by the advice, reasons, and 
•exhortations, of their freely-elected officers. Their 
censures were only honest reproofs, and their ex- 
communications were nothing more than declara- 
tions that the offenders were incorrigible, and were 
no longer accounted members of their societies. 
The term hierarchy was unknown, and hierodulia 
would have been the proper description then : it 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 191 

was a spiritual kingdom, not of this world; it did not 
injure, it could not possibly injure, sound civil 
polity. The primitive Christians were taxed with 
holding seditious principles; and this calumny 
they merited for not getting drunk on Caesar's 
birth-day ; for holding their religious assemblies 
in the night, when secular business was over ; 
for refusing to swear by the genius of Csesar \ 
for scrupling to give him the titles that belonged 
to God ; for talking of a kingdom of saints upon 
earth. However, these sons of sedition prayed 
for Csesar, taught all due obedience to him, paid 
his tribute, fought in his wars, treated all inferior 
magistrates with profound respect ; and these 
things they did, not for prudential reasons of 
worldly policy, but from examined and ascertained 
principles of genuine Christianity. 

The whole farrago of a secular religion is a 
burden, an expense, a distress to government, and 
every corrupt part and parcel of it is in some way 
or other injurious to civil polity. Consider a king- 
dom as one large family, sum up the priesthood 
into one domestic chaplain, compare what he 
costs with the good he does, and judge whether 
the family gains as it ought, or loses as it ought 
not, by his chaplainship ? 

To come to the point. We apply these general 
strictures to one article, consisting of fasts, feasts, 
and holidays. We divide them into five classes, 
and discharge four of them. In the first, we place 



192 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

all those obsolete holidays which were in vogue 
before the Reformation, such as the Assumption, 
the Conception, Silvester, Britius, and such like, 
which were very properly retained in the calendar 
at the Reformation for law uses, for the ascertain- 
ing of the times of tenures, and of the payment of 
dues, or of charitable donations that were dated 
by these days. In a second class we put all the 
Sundays in the year, for although some divines 
hold the morality of the sabbath, and others place it 
among positive institutes, yet all agree in the 
necessity of keeping a day, and a pious clergy 
know how to improve it to the noblest uses of 
church and state. In a third, we put all red-letter 
days, as coronation days, birth- days, and others. 
The suspending of business on these days is a very 
proper compliment to our civil governors, and the 
health and spirits of gentlemen confined in public 
offices require relaxation and exercise. Nobody 
pretends to make religion of these, and they are on 
many accounts quite necessary. In a fourth class 
we put all those Saints' days, and other holidays 
which the clergy are obliged by their superiors to 
observe. They ought not to complain if they are 
required to fast on the 30th of January, for the 
expiation of a crime which no man alive com- 
mitted, for they are amply rewarded by many a 
festival, from which none but themselves ever 
derived the least benefit. All these we dismiss, 
and retain only a fifth sort of holiday, which con- 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 193 

stitution and custom engage the whole national 
church to observe ; the smallest number of these 
days is ten. A very little attention will convince 
us, that the observation of these ten holidays are 
productive of no real advantage, but, on the con- 
trary, of much damage to the nation at large. 

As these festivals are generally observed, they 
hurt the health, the morals, and the little pro- 
perty of the poor ; they depress virtue, encourage 
vice, and generate superstition; they clog business, 
burden the clergy, increase the rates of parishes, 
endanger the peace of society at large, and perplex 
magistrates ; in a word, they impoverish the king- 
dom, in proportion to the extent of their influence. 

To examine only one of these items. Suppose a 
day labourer to be employed all the year at seven shil- 
lings a week, that is, at fourteen pence a day ; ten 
days of his time are worth, to his family, eleven shil- 
lings and eight pence. Not to earn, is to pay ; and 
this poor fellow is actually at the annual charge of 
eleven shillings and eight-pence, for the support of 
annual festivals. Let us suppose further, that his 
wife earns sixpence a day, and his four children four 
pence each, at stone gathering or any other work • 
ten days of the woman's time are worth five shil- 
lings ; ten days of each child are worth three shil- 
lings and fourpence. So that this man's wife and 
children pay for festivals, eighteen shillings and 
four pence a year ! We are further to add the 
extraordinary expenses of his family on these 



194 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

days, for it is all a farce to talk of their fasting ; 
they have no fasts in their calendar : all are fes- 
tivals with them, and they never fast when they can 
ohtain food. We may allow the poor man, then, 
one shilling on each day to spend at the ale-house, 
and his family one more for tea, beer, nuts, ginger- 
bread, and so on. We are to add, then, twenty 
shillings more to his account, and his reckoning 
stands thus : — 

To 10 days' work, at Is. 2d. each £.0 11 8 

To 10 days' work of wife, at 6d , 5 

To 10 days' work of 4 children, at 4d. each per day. 13 4 
To 10 days' extra expenses for self and family, at 

2s. per day. ,. 10 

Total £.2 10 



Is not the sum of fifty shillings (enormous for 
this family) a heavy tax paid for a cargo of idle- 
ness ? Let us suppose this poor man to enter 
thoroughly into the pretended design of the day — 
to abstain from food as well as work, to fast, and 
pray, and spend nothing ; still the fast costs him 
all the money that he avoids earning, and this 
simple devotee would pay twenty or thirty shillings 
a year for the privilege of emaciating himself. 

But the people derive great advantages from 
festivals ! Good God ! Is religion magic ? What 
people derive advantages from festivals ? They who 
never attend them ? It is notorious that the poor 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 195 

are not to be found at church on Easter and Whit- 
sun holidays. Inquire for the London populace 
at Greenwich, and for the country people in the 
various ale-houses. To say, that they might reap 
benefits, and they ought to pay for the liberty, is 
equal to saying, that the sober populace might get 
drunk, and they ought to pay the reckoning of 
those who do. 

Whatever advantages they derive from church 
holidays, many of their neighbours derive great 
disadvantages from their sinking fifty shillings 
annually to support them. This poor fellow should 
pay thirty shillings a year rent for his cottage, 
but the landlord never gets it ; yet he would thank 
him to pay his rent by ten days' work for him. He 
can pay no rates to the parish, nor any taxes to 
government ; yet were he allowed to earn fifty 
shillings a year more than he does, he could pay 
both, and save money to buy a pig, or a bullock, 
and firing too. He owes something to the doctor 
for physic, and something to the shop for food — 
debts contracted in lyings-in and illness ; he can 
pay none of these driblets ; yet he could pay all, 
were he allowed to earn fifty shillings a year more, 
and to deposit it for the payment of debts. Besides, 
he got drunk on the feast of the Epiphany, which 
he, a heathen, called twelfth-night, set up a score 
at the ale-house, rolled in the dirt, spoiled his 
clothes, lost his hat, fought with Sam Stride, who 
sent him a lawyer's letter, for which he paid six 

o 2 



196 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

and eight pence, beside a guinea to Stride to 
make it up ; and on the same night he gave a 
girl nineteen pence for the liberty of leaving a 
bastard to the parish ; magistrates were tormented 
with warrants, and oaths, and depositions ; peace- 
able subjects, with the interruptions of riot and 
debauchery ; the whole business of the parish 
stood still, and the industrious were obliged to 
pay, out of their honest gains, the whole expense 
at last. 

What ! it will be said, would you keep these 
people in eternal employment, and allow them no 
holidays ? I would keep them in perpetual em- 
ployment. Six days they should labour, and do all 
they have to do; the seventh, being the sabbath 
of the Lord their God, the clergy should so per- 
form divine service as to engage them voluntarily 
to choose to fill a religious assembly ; their children 
should be catechized, and rational and agreeable 
pains should be taken to instil the great principles 
of religion into them; they should be taught a 
practice of piety, and a course of virtue. Religion 
should be unmasked and exposed in its own beauty 
to their view : at present it appears to them an 
unmeaning incumbrance of expensive forms ; their 
infants are questioned and sprinkled ; their wives 
pay a shilling, and are churched ; they are generally 
funny at a wedding, and feel no expense but the 
ring ; they eat cross-buns on Good Friday, are 
merry at Easter, and mad at Christmas ; they 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 197 

pay small tithes through life, and are buried in 
form when they die ; and they call this the Christian 
religion, in the best constituted church in the 
world, and abuse all who think otherwise as knaves 
and fools, ignorant of God, and disloyal to the 
king ! As to holidays, let the poor take as many 
as they can afford, and their masters can spare. 
Far be it from me to wish to abridge their liberty, 
or diminish their little enjoyments of life ; but 
let us not make religion of their gambols, nor 
enrol their pastimes among the laws of Jesus 
Christ. 

There were, in the ritual of our ancestors, above 
two hundred festal days, many of them in seed 
time, hay time, and harvest. Great complaints 
were made to Parliament. The Church, it was 
said, would ruin the State. While the people were 
telling beads, and the priests chanting and preaching 
away, the corn lay rotting in the fields, cattle were 
neglected, commerce was at a stand, and the nation 
was starving. The legislature struck off, first, 
harvest holidays, and then others, and what remain 
were left for a decoy to papists, to the great grief 
of numbers who submitted to them, and who 
wished to get rid of superstition — the rust and the 
rind of popery. 

If any imagine these festivals necessary for 
the sake of informing people of the events that 
are commemorated on them, and of preserving 
and perpetuating their remembrance, we only 



198 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONTINUED. 

beg leave to ask — Where was Christianity so well 
understood as in the primitive churches, which 
celebrated none of them ? Where is the Christian 
religion less understood than in the Roman com- 
munity, where they are celebrated without end ? 
Who understood Christianity best, our Saxon an- 
cestors, who had many festivals, or our immediate 
parents, who had few ? Is religion better under- 
stood in these reformed churches where they are 
celebrated, than in those where they are omitted ? 
Does religion consist in the bare remembrance of 
a few events in the life of Jesus Christ ? May not 
all the ends proposed by the observation of church 
holidavs be better answered without it ? Do we 
not sacrifice many great advantages, and put our- 
selves to unnecessary inconveniences and expenses, 
for mere shadows, which never can be substan- 
tiated without civil coercion ? Is not the likeliest 
method to make the clergy loathe the necessary 
parts of their office, the obliging of them to drudge 
alone in unnecessary exercises ? Many articles are 
omitted, underrated, and half reasoned ; but we 
have said enough, perhaps too much, on the evil 
polity of church holidays. 



199 



CHAP. XVII. 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 

Should any parish priest of genuine and generous 
piety (for to sycophants and bigots we have nothing 
to say,) who loves God, reveres his king, wishes 
well to his country, and to all mankind, — should 
such a man say, " I mourn for the vices and cala- 
mities of my country, and I dread those chastise- 
ments of Providence which national sins deserve ; 
I wish to contribute my mite to the public good ; 
but I know no better way of promoting it, than 
by inculcating the observation of fasts and feasts, 
and approved rituals ;" I would venture to reply 
to him thus : — 

' ' Reverend Sir ! I give you credit for being a 
man too wise to quibble about style, where mat- 
ters of the highest importance are in hand, and too 
good to be offended with the honest bluntness of 
one, whose reigning passion is to wish felicity to 
all mankind. Pardon me, then, if I take the 
liberty to say, that the cool, disinterested part of 
mankind consider a hierarchy as they consider a 



200 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED^ 

standing military force. In absolute monarchies, 
where the main principle of the constitution is 
that of governing by fear, a hierarchy is essentially 
necessary to the despotism of the prince ; but in 
free states a hierarchy will always justly be an 
object of jealousy. Hierarchial powers have found 
many a state free, and reduced it to slavery ; but 
there is no instance of their having brought an 
enslaved state into Christian liberty. Your country, 
Sir, is almost the only one in the universe, in 
which civil liberty is the very end and scope of 
the constitution. You should therefore acquaint 
yourself well with all the singular polity of this 
country, which is governed by a system of laws, 
all tending to the one great design — civil liberty, 
and you should not put off the man, the citizen, 
and the Christian, when you put on the clerical 
character. 

"You profess a religion, Sir, which agrees with 
civil polity ; you know how some of your order 
have deprived it of this glory by resisting or duping 
their civil governors in order to aggrandize them- 
selves. Recover that character to Christianity, 
which those tools of a desperate cause, Austin and 
Lanfrank, Duns tan and Anselm, Thurstan and 
Becket, Longchamp and Peckham, Arundel and 
Chichley, Wolsey and Bonner, Parker and Whit- 
gift, Bancroft and Laud, and others of more modern 
times, have vilely squandered away. Leave secular 
affairs to secular men. Have no more to do than 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 201 

what you cannot possibly avoid, with commissions 
of the peace, county elections, commissions for 
roads, the civil affairs of hospitals, corporations, and 
so on. You may have rights as a gentleman, but it 
is not necessary you should lay aside the character 
of a gentleman for the sake of asserting them. 
Civil government administered by clerical men 
always inspires the laity with jealousy, and the 
poor with contempt. In your office, be no aspiring 
statesman's tool for filthy lucre's sake. Do not 
dare to lift your unhallowed hand against the 
sovereign's title to the crown, and the people's 
right to liberty, by brandishing the obsolete and 
execrable doctrines of passive obedience, non-re- 
sistance, the divine right of kings, and all the un- 
constitutional positions which the supreme legis- 
lature consigned to eternal oblivion at the glorious 
revolution. Your superior may put you on utter- 
ing what he dare not utter himself, in order to 
feel the popular pulse ; and he may procure in- 
terested hirelings to applaud you, and promise 
that preferment to you which he intends for him- 
self. If you perish in the attempt, what cares he ? 
But do not deceive yourself. The present king 
will never prefer men of arbitrary and unconsti- 
tutional principles. His Majesty perfectly com- 
prehends the nature of the British constitution ; 
and, as he magnanimously aspires at the glory of 
reigning over a free people, who have confidence 
in his goodness, it is impossible he should smile 



202 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 

on those who lay the axe to the root of the con- 
stitution, and would, by one fatal blow, fell those 
twin branches — his title and his people's liberties. 
Stir up no strife in your public preaching, nor 
teach your parish to abhor an inhabitant of it for 
praying in a barn. Never persecute for religion's 
sake. Never oppress conscience. Never dis- 
countenance piety in other communities, lest men 
should think you not a minister of religion, but the 
tool of a party. Never condemn denominations 
in the gross, nor impute principles and practices 
to them which they abhor. Sow no jealousies or 
discords in families. Cultivate the general prin- 
ciples of Christianity more than the peculiarities of 
your own party, and the rights of all mankind 
rather than the ritual of a very inconsiderable part 
of them. 

" You are the minister of a religion remarkable 
for its morality. Do nothing to weaken this evi- 
dence of its divinity. 

" Avoid all gross vices, drunkenness, adultery, 
lying, blasphemy, sabbath-breaking. It is not 
enough for you to abstain from swearing and 
lying ; you must not take God's name in vain, nor 
allow yourself to prevaricate. Abstain from what 
the scripture calls filthiness of spirit ; pride, levity, 
hypocrisy, avarice, discontent, distrust, mental 
immoralities. Practise all the moral duties, and let 
your flock see as well as hear your doctrine. Have 
no fellowship with those unfruitful works of dark- 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 203 

ness — gaming, horse-facing, frequenting taverns 
and ale-houses, play-houses, opera-houses, balls, 
assemblies, and masquerades. Avoid also hunt- 
ing, shooting, dangling at the heels of Sir Robert, 
cringing at the levee of my lord, and fetching and 
carrying for my lady ; all of which, whatever may 
be said for secular men, are highly improper for 
you. The minister of Christ must at least appear 
to be a man of delicate and refined moral virtue. 

" You are a minister of revealed religion. Study 
the holy scriptures, distinguish the doctrines of 
revelation from the discoveries of philosophers ; 
the precepts of Christ from the prudential laws of 
Epictetus ; the doctrines and laws of his kingdom 
from human creeds and worldly maxims ; and do 
not imagine that classics and mathematics, novels 
and plays, contain a body of Christian divinity. 
Never turn the sacred truths of revelation into 
ridicule, nor call " being bom again" " fearing 
the Lord" " praying by the spirit," the cant of a 
party. The phraseology of scripture may have 
been misunderstood, but you should not discard 
both comment and text ; you have adopted the 
book, and you ought to explain its meaning. 
Avail yourself of all opportunities of disseminating 
scriptural knowledge. Instruct the children and 
the poor in your parish. Carry religion home to 
their bosoms. Lay aside the self-important haugh- 
tiness of a priest, and put on the meek and humble 
terriper of your Master. Go into the cottages of 



204 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 

the poor. Encourage their meeting together to 
pray, and read the holy scriptures. Teach them 
to set up family worship, to perform a course of 
domestic devotion ; and, above all things, never 
countenance the profanation of the sabbath, but 
teach them to reverence and improve it. 

" You are, Sir, a minister in a rich community. 
Your country gives you good wages, and at least 
some work is expected. Employ your emoluments 
to better purposes than those of dress and equi- 
page, Sunday visits, midnight revels, assemblies, 
simoniacal contracts, and such like. Detest the 
miserable disposition of hoarding wealth, and 
dread being possessed by the lust of rising to 
preferment. Remember, all church emoluments 
are fiduciary, and they lapse into the public hand 
when the services for which they were granted are 
not performed. Flatter the vices of no patron, but, 
with a modest boldness, reprove them. Dare to be 
upright. Despise the shame of singularity. Touch 
no sinecures. Renounce needless pluralities. Do 
not plead for non-residence • and if you must have 
a curate, let him share both work and wages. It 
would be tedious to you were I to go through the 
duties that are annexed to all offices, from the curate 
up to the Metropolitan of all England ; I will only 
beg your patience, while I add, in general — avoid 
the six vices that disgrace too many of your order. 
Destroy the prejudices of deists and infidels ; allow, 
at least, the probability of some defection, and 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 205 

adopt the course prescribed by the oracles of 
God. 

" The principal vices that disgrace the clergy- 
are — First, Ignorance of Christian divinity. Second, 
Perjury, if they subscribe upon oath their belief of 
propositions, which they have either not examined 
or do not believe. Third, Ambition, expressed in 
a haughty reserve in private life, and a vain and 
pompous parade in public, a pedantic affectation 
of wisdom of words in their public preaching, by 
which they sacrifice the edification of a whole con- 
gregation to the silly vanity of shining as men of 
genius. Fourth, Insatiable avarice ; being ten 
thousand times more tenacious of a fourpenny 
Easter offering than of all the Ten Commandments. 
Fifth, Time-serving, always pursuing those mea- 
sures which serve their own interest, surrendering 
to it philosophy and divinity, the interests of their 
country, and the honour of their God. Sixth, Hy- 
pocrisy ; acting a part ; recommending Christianity 
by office, and establishing Paganism by inclination ; 
— at church in masquerade, and at play in their 
native character. Such priests as these turn the 
heavenly manna into poison. They give the ene- 
mies of religion cause to blaspheme, and are the 
ridicule of atheists, and the reasons of deism ! Be 
it your holy ambition, Sir, to wipe off the foul 
prejudices that deform the face of a weeping re- 
formed church. Your community is suspected of 
symbolising with popery, for Parpalio, the pope's 



206 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 

nuncio, offered, in the pope's name, to confirm your 
service book. All reformed divines own that the 
distinguishing characters of that apostate church 
are three — superstition, tyranny, and immorality. 
Are there no evidences of your possessing these 
marks of anti-christianism ? Are your morals un- 
corrupt ? Do you place no religion in habits, 
places, words, and forms ? Have you resigned 
that unrighteous dominion over conscience, which, 
in less inquisitive times, your order unjustly ac- 
quired? Have you, like other penitents, joined 
restitution to repentance ? Have you expelled no 
students for praying, and reading the scriptures ? 
Denied ordination to no candidates on account of 
their holding the doctrines of your own articles ? 
Suspended and persecuted no clergymen for preach- 
ing more zealously than yourselves ? Have you 
awed none into silence, who would speak if they 
dare ? What said you to your petitioning col- 
leagues? And what to the dissenting clergy, 
whom you natter, and soothe, and call brethren in 
Christ? Are they freed from oaths, and subscrip- 
tions, and penal laws ? ^^ # ^ Christian Liberty ! 
Thou favourite offspring of heaven ! Thou first- 
born of Christianity! I saw the wise and pious 
servants of God nourish thee in their houses, and 
cherish thee in their bosoms ! I saw them lead 
thee into public view ! All good men hailed thee ! 
The generous British Commons caressed and 
praised thee, and led thee into an upper house, and 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 207 

there #### there didst thou expire in the holy laps of 
spiritual Lords ! **** Allow that it is not impossible, 
nor improbable, but very likely, that may have 
happened in Christianity, which has happened in 
law ; multifarious statutes have obscured plain 
common law. Changing the term law for divinity, 
I will recite the words of one of the chief orna- 
ments of the learned profession: — The Christian 
religion has fared like other venerable edifices of 
antiquity, which rash and inexperienced workmen 
have ventured to new dress and refine with all the 
rage of modern improvement ; hence, frequently 
its symmetry has been destroyed, its proportions 
distorted, and its majestic simplicity exchanged 
for specious embellishments and fantastic novel- 
ties. For, to say the truth, all niceties and intri- 
cacies owe their original, not to scripture divinity, 
but to additions and innovations, often on a sud- 
den penned by men, who had none, or very little 
judgment in divinity. 

" In fine, Sir, feed the flock of God, which 
he has purchased with his own blood. Covet no 
man's silver, or gold, or apparel. — Warn every 
one night and day with tears. — Serve the Lord 
with all humility of mind. — Keep back nothing 
that is profitable. — Teach publicly, and from house 
to house. — Testify to Jews and Greeks neither 
worldly politics nor human inventions, but repent- 
ance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. — Watch in all things. Do the work of an 



208 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 

evangelist. Make full proof of your ministry. — > 
Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doc- 
trine. — Meditate upon these things. — Give thy- 
self wholly to them. — Do these things, and then, 
when you are become venerably hoary in the best 
of services, finish your course with joy ! — Take 
Britain and her colonies, Protestantism and Popery, 
Canada and China, your own church and other 
reformed churches, heaven and earth, to record 
that you are pure from the blood of all men. — 
Quit the worlgl like your divine Master, and 
ascend to heaven, you blessing us, and we ad- 
miring you ! 

" But if, on the contrary, neglecting all the duties 
of your office, and practising all the vices that ever 
provoked the patience of God and man ; — if you 
enter the church by that door by which Ananias 
was turned out, professing to be moved by the 
Spirit of God, while you are actuated only by am- 
bition or avarice ; — if, so far from coming up to the 
spirit of those qualifications which are required to 
ordination, you fall short of their very letter, either 
in learning, morality, or knowledge of theology ; — 
if you subscribe thirty-nine articles, three creeds, 
the genuine and apocryphal scriptures, the books 
of prayer, ordination, and homilies, and swear 
canonical obedience to one hundred and forty-one 
canons, without having read, examined, and be- 
lieved the whole ; — if you take the oath of supre- 
macy, and hold, that the church hath legislative 



HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 209 

power ; — if you abjure popery upon oath, and yet 
hold the principal articles that support it ; — if you 
swear allegiance to his Majesty, and teach anti- 
revolutionary principles ; — if you obtain preferment 
by simony, direct or indirect ; — if you take charge 
of two thousand souls, and never speak to one 
thousand nine hundred of them ; — if you hold con- 
tradictory doctrines, while you profess uniformity ; — 
if you have a catechism, and never teach it; — if you 
neglectyour duty, to hunt after preferment; — if you 
enjoy the emoluments of a spiritual office in person, 
and do the service of it by proxy ; — if you hate re- 
formation, and depreciate and persecute those who 
would reform you ; — if you misrepresent peaceable 
subjects, taxing them with heresy, schism, and re- 
publicanism, and strive to render their loyalty to 
the crown, and their love to the constitution, doubt- 
ful ; — if you profane the sabbath, and ordinances of 
divine appointment; — if all your study be to make a 
fair show in the flesh; — if you mind only earthly 
things, your God being your belly, and glorying in 
your shame — and vainly imagine to cover all these 
crimes by observing a Good Friday, and so to gull 
mankind into a persuasion of your sapience and 
sanctity, — know, of a truth, the time may come, 
when your civil governors may see it as necessary 
to reform your reformation as their ancestors did 
to reform the religion of your predecessors. Till 
then, although the religion of pious spectators will 
not suffer them to hurt a hair of your head, yet the 



210 HISTORY OF CHURCH HOLIDAYS, CONCLUDED. 

same religion will oblige them to say of you, "This 
evil man talks of light while his feet are stumbling 
on dark mountains : his country and the small 
remains of his own conscience, the canons of his 
church and the laws of the state, the liberalities 
of his prince and the tears of his brethren, the 
ashes of Burnets, and Hoadlys, and Lardners, 
the best judgments of Heaven on degenerate 
priests and incorrigible nations, — all call him to his 
duty, and warn him of the danger of falling into 
the hands of an angry God. If he will not hear, 
our souls shall weep in secret places for his igno- 
rance and pride." 



211 



CHAP. XVIII. 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 



Plainness and simplicity are not more inseparable 
marks of any other truth than they are of that 
religion which wants neither paint nor pageantry 
to recommend it to the hearts of men. It wins the 
affections by the force of its persuasions, and the 
understanding by the reasonableness of its pre- 
cepts. It abhors violence, as opposite to its nature, 
and despises art and policy, as below its dignity. 
Human ornaments may hide and disfigure it, but 
cannot preserve or improve its intrinsic beauty 
and divine lustre. Pomp and grimace, as they are 
in no wise akin to it, so neither are they the effect 
of it, nor can they render it any advantage. On the 
contrary, they tend to fill the mind with gross ideas, 
or sullen fear, and create superstition instead of 
piety. 

God himself has told us, that he will be wor- 
shipped in spirit and in truth, which shews that 
love and sincerity constitute devotion, and that re- 
ligion resides in the heart. As to bodily religion, 

p 2 



212 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

and corporeal holiness, the gospel is silent, leaving 
every one at full liberty to behave in his own way 
in the practice of piety. It is justly esteemed the 
glory and felicity of the Christian religion, that by 
it we are released from the grievous yoke and bon- 
dage of ceremonies, which neither we nor our 
fathers were able to bear. It is a religion of sim- 
plicity, void of all superfluities and trifling imper- 
tinences. 

Men cannot judge of one another's thoughts and 
inclinations but by words and actions ; and because 
it would be both troublesome and silly to be on 
every occasion haranguing our friends and superiors 
upon the profound veneration which we profess for 
their persons or characters, it has become neces- 
sary to agree upon some outward forms to denote 
internal respect. This I take to be the only good 
reason which can be given for a particular form of 
address, or ceremony. It is ridiculous, either by 
sounds or gestures, to tell a man over and over 
again what he knows already ; and therefore the 
most intimate friends and old acquaintance make 
but little use of show or compliment : those who 
make most, are ever found the least sincere. How 
senseless and absurd must it be to entertain Heaven 
with grimaces — Heaven, which searches our hearts, 
and knows our most hidden thoughts, and will not 
be deceived by outward, arbitrary, and fallacious 
marks of the inward disposition ! 

It can never be conceived, that the all-merciful 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 213 

and omniscient God should, by the sending of his 
Son, abolish, or suffer to be abolished, the whole Jew- 
ish order of ceremonies, though appointed by him- 
self in person — should graciously condescend to 
establish a new dispensation, destitute of all cere- 
mony and exterior grandeur, — and yet leave it to the 
ambition of designing men, or to the folly of weak 
ones, to invent and impose a fresh load of rituals, 
in opposition to the plain genius of the gospel. 
This would be for the All-merciful, to be merciful 
in vain ; for the Creator to resign his power to the 
creature ; and for God to recall his own injunctions, 
which he once gave for a gracious and wise end, 
since ceased, that men may enforce their's for a 
weak or a wicked one. 

Nothing is, or can be, pure religion, but either 
what God commands and tells us he will accept, 
or what is dictated by eternal reason, which is the 
law of nature. Whatever is superadded, however 
dignified by a venerable name, is no part of true 
religion; which, as has been said, can be supported 
by nothing but divine revelation, or divine reason. 
"When both these are wanting, we wander in the 
dark, and worship blindfolded ; being led by the 
hand of conjecture and invention, which are uncer- 
tain and endless. This is so true, that where true 
religion exists, there are few ceremonies ; and, on 
the other hand, where ceremonies abound, there 
religion is either utterly lost, or miserably decayed. 



214 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

In popish countries, it is more or less visible, ac- 
cording as ceremonies and bigotry — which, like 
cause and effect, go hand in hand — are more or less 
practised or promoted. Thus, in France, where, 
through the commerce of that kingdom with Pro- 
testants, there are still some remains of common 
sense, and consequently of religion, God is wor- 
shipped as well as dead men, though not so much; 
but in Italy and Spain, the saints have deprived 
their Maker of all devotion ; and the blessed Virgin, 
St. Dominick, St. Jago, and St. Anthony, are made 
governors of heaven and earth, and the givers of 
eternal life ; and consequently are become, next 
immediately after the priests, the only objects of 
adoration. If you deprive them of their saints and 
their ceremonies, there is not the least semblance 
of religion left amongst them. 

So little has Christianity gained by ceremonies, 
that a great part of mankind have, by adopting 
them, banished all true religion. If they were in- 
troduced, as it is alleged, to kindle piety, I am 
sorry to say, it has so happened, that this heat of 
devotion has quite drank up the truth and essen- 
tials of religion. The blind compliance with a 
senseless cringe, invented and enjoined by a popish 
priest, is made of more importance and merit than 
the possession of all moral and Christian virtues, 
without it. Religion, good sense, and humanity, 
are inseparable friends ; but a superstitious fond- 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 215 

ness for ceremonies is a contradiction and an 
affront to all the three. 

The teachers of mankind have, for the greatest 
part, been the most unteachable of all men • and 
these our guides to peace have been always the 
foremost to break it. They have seen, from time 
to time, the violence and ungodly effects produced 
by their contention for human forms, habits, and 
decisions ; and yet, where the religious laity and 
the law did not interpose to restrain this unchris- 
tian behaviour in churchmen, they have not only 
still adhered with obstinacy to their inventions and 
impositions, but frequently made it their business 
to broach new ones, and to throw about fresh balls 
of strife and cruelty. Ceremonies were first 
brought in under a very plausible pretence, — viz., 
that of aiding and promoting religion ; but we 
have seen, by upwards of a thousand years' expe- 
rience, that these, its pretended friends, always 
became its rivals and successful enemies, and, by 
the help of those whose interest it was to contrive 
and support them at any rate, never failed to 
banish it as far away as their power extended. 

It is pretended, that the invention of stated cere- 
monies and garments, is justified by these words of 
St. Paul to the Corinthians — ' ' Let all things be 
done decently and in order." But these words are 
only a precept to avoid immodesty and confusion in 
religious assemblies. Two, for example, were not 



216 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

to speak at the same time. One was not to sing 
psalms while another prayed. Neither love nor 
trade was to be the business of their meetings, nor 
tithes and their own power the drift and business 
of the preachers. Christ was not to be confounded 
with Belial, nor pride and dominion with meekness 
and Christianity. Exhortation was not to be 
mixed with railing, nor praying with cursing. Nor 
were the people to be taught to hate one another. 
In short, God was to be adored with the heart and 
affections, and not with a fiddle, or a pipe, or a 
tabor ! 

I do not find that the apostle's words were un- 
derstood in any other sense than this, by those to 
whom they were addressed. It does not appear, 
that immediately upon the sight of St. Paul's 
epistle, the Corinthians concluded that prayers 
should be said in surplices ; and that the faithful, 
as soon as the word was given, should kneel, stoop, 
and stand ; or turn to the right or left, like a file 
of musketeers ; or that they were to nod towards 
the east, as if the Almighty kept his court only 
there. Nor were the Corinthians directed by this 
text to play popish tricks over the forehead of a 
babe baptized, as sure and certain signs of regenera- 
tion ; nor were they commanded to put up their 
petitions in quavers, and to sing their prayers as 
well as say them ; nor was that subtle distinction 
then and there found out, of bowing at the name 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 217 

of Jesus, but not at the name of Christ or of God. 
All these pretty fashions were unknown to the 
apostle and his correspondents, and their genteel- 
ness and significancy have been long since dis- 
covered by the Romish clergy in later days ; and, 
indeed, it is now become impossible to make one's 
court well without them. The words decorum and 
significancy, which are made use of to justify the 
celebration of ceremonies, are words of such prodi- 
gious latitude, that the world does not agree, nor 
ever can agree, what it is that comes properly 
under their denomination, and what does not. 
With the Turks, it is decent to be covered at de- 
votion ; with us, to be bare-headed. How is the 
wearing of a wig, or a cap, more decent and ortho- 
dox than the wearing of a hat ? How is a prunella 
gown, or a lawn frock, more significant than a 
cloth coat ? Is God better pleased with a cambric 
band than with a muslin cravat ? And is an organ- 
loft more acceptable to Him than plain country 
piety, that has neither motion nor music in it ? 

If men be at liberty to invent and enjoin one 
unnecessary ceremony, why not two ? And if two, 
why not two thousand ? When such a power is 
once granted, it cannot be easily, nor indeed reason- 
ably, limited. If the clergy can oblige me to throw 
my head into my bosom, upon their pronouncing 
certain sounds, they may oblige me to run it 
against a stone wall ; nay, what is still worse, 
whoever has an authority to direct my manner of 



218 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

worship, must have also a power to direct the 
matter of it, and may command me whom, as well 
as how to worship. 

Superstition in the people, and power in the 
priests, were the true ends and consequences of 
creating ceremonies ; for, as to their significancy, 
it was a mere pretence. Such a plea would jus- 
tify endless phrensy and fooleries, and every mad- 
ness would be made a mystery. For instance, we 
might be made to walk bare-footed into the church, 
to signify the sanctity of the place ; and to crawl 
upon all fours out of it, to signify the humiliation 
of our hearts. A match of cudgel-playing every 
Sunday might be instituted, to signify our spiritual 
warfare ; and a game of blindman's buff, to signify 
the darkness of our understandings. In short, any 
thing might be made to signify every thing, and 
any punishment be inflicted upon the profane 
gainsayer. Upon this principle may be justified 
all the pagan and popish fopperies that ever were, 
or ever could be invented, and nothing can be said 
against all the many garments, and many colours, 
and many antic gestures, used by the Romish 
priests at this day. 

It must be evident to every intelligent man, that 
all this pretty pageantry and raree-show, can never 
make men more acceptable to God, who will not 
be gratified or obliged by a jig or a tune. I believe 
I may safely affirm, that if all the merry-making 
and jovial devotion in the popish churches do no 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 219 

manner of good, they must needs do harm ; because 
they divert the mind from deliberate devotion and 
calm repentance, and can, at best, only work it up 
to a wild and enthusiastic worship. However, 
though this pompous parade in piety does no ser- 
vice to religion, it effectually answers the end pro- 
posed, and contributes vastly, as every thing else 
does, to the advancement and grandeur of the 
Romish clergy. It turns men's thoughts from 
divine objects to a superstitious veneration for 
postures, habits, grimaces, cringes, utensils, and 
other things, all invented by priests, who are 
always sure to appoint themselves masters of the 
ceremonies, and to be well paid for their deep 
knowledge in this momentous science. Besides, 
it enlists into their service great numbers of 
people ; organists, fiddlers, singing men, with all 
the piping and chanting crew, as well as artificers 
of various kinds. It engages men and women of 
pleasure in their interests ; it catches the multitude 
by the ears and the eyes, and sets them a staring ; 
it alleviates their own drudgery of frequent preach- 
ing and praying ; and also serves the purposes of 
interludes in the perpetual tragedies they are act- 
ing ; which they render less terrible by playing, 
like Nero, upon their harps in the midst of confla- 
grations of their own making. 

The pagan religion consisted, altogether, in a 
great number and variety of strange and senseless 
ceremonies ; and being foolish and false, it could 



220 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

consist of nothing else. Its votaries had, for their 
religious task, certain frantic actions to perform, 
certain wanton motions to make, or certain mad 
races to run ; sometimes galloping about the streets 
like lunatics, sometimes half naked, and at other 
times altogether so, or in a religious antic dress 
significantly suited to their behaviour. They were 
to be religious with their heads, feet, and other 
members. They were also to utter certain harsh 
and devout sounds which had no meaning, but 
were prodigiously significant, and being very ridi- 
culous, were very decent. 

During all this holy exercise, which was edifying 
in proportion as it was mad, their minds were pos- 
sessed with a drunken festivity and wantonness, or 
with craziness and enthusiastic fear. They were 
either lewd and raving rakes or fanatics. It never 
entered into their heads, nor did their priests ever 
put it into them, that religion was a sober thing, 
consisting in the exercise of reason and the prac- 
tice of virtue. No ! a spirit of sobriety, or a ray 
of understanding, would have blown up the autho- 
rity and dominion of the heathen parsons, and, 
therefore, the poor lay pagans were not suffered to 
know that a man might be a religious man with- 
out being a good dancer, and please God without 
roaring, and running races. 

This was the godly and wholesome discipline in- 
vented and instituted by the pagan clergy, for the 
use and edification of the deluded and idolatrous 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 221 

world. Action and outward show were all they knew 
of religion ; and therefore their superstition took 
great delight in building and beautifying temples. 
They imagined that the doing of a thing which had 
any reference to religion, was actually a piece of 
religion ; and that any job of work about a holy 
place, was, in good earnest, a job of holiness. 
They might as rationally have believed, that masons, 
joiners, and plasterers, employed about a temple, 
derived piety and merit from that employment. 
Had not pagan ceremonies signified nothing, or 
rather something very bad, as, indeed, it was evi- 
dent to every eye that they were either senseless 
or impious, our Saviour would never have insti- 
tuted, as he did, a religion without one ceremony 
in it. The religion of the gospel is as pure from 
fancies and ceremonies, as from pride and the 
spirit of dominion. 

Our blessed Saviour knew well, that the crafty 
and profane priests had, by their shameless inven- 
tions and filthy ceremonies, polluted or abolished 
all religion ; and therefore, in mercy to mankind, 
He founded a religion without priests and without 
ceremonies. (For it is to be observed, that while 
the established church of paganism flourished, 
priests and ceremonies always flourished and in- 
creased together.) Such was the simple institution 
of the gospel ; but when popery began to expel 
Christianity, ignorance and ceremonies were some 
of the principal engines by which it effected its 



2^2 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

purpose. For, as the meekness of Christians was 
then converted into the cruelty of barbarians, and 
the plainness of the gospel into all the detestable 
fopperies of paganism ; so holiness of heart was 
changed into holiness of posture ; the humility of 
soul into bodily bowings ; the worship of God into 
the worship of bread, and the piping of organs ; 
and the clergy, as they named themselves, were no 
longer clothed with humility, but with surplices 
and other robes. Nor was this mighty revolution, 
this unnatural transition from the beauty and gen- 
tleness of Christianity to the unhallowed spirit and 
abominable rituals of the heathens, at all hard or 
impracticable. The people had, by the idleness, 
insufficiency, and debaucheries of the ecclesiastics, 
become corrupt and blind to the last degree, and, 
therefore, ran readily and cheerfully into every new 
absurdity. Whatever the bishop pronounced de- 
cent, though ever so vile or silly, his conforming 
flock received as reverend and edifying. A gross 
and sensual manner of worship suited best with 
the grossness of their understandings and the sen- 
suality of their minds. They had no conception of 
the spiritual nature of the gospel, and of that 
evangelical grace which operates internally, and is 
wholly employed about the soul, but produces 
neither cringes, nor dances, nor grimaces. 

A religion, therefore, of ceremonies, which is no 
religion at all, agreed well with those carnal Chris- 
tians who were taught to place all religion in cere- 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 223 

monies. When the ignorant vulgar are once per- 
suaded that ceremonies are good for any thing, 
they come quickly to think them good for every 
thing ; and the more the better ! They are de- 
lighted with shadows, and mystery, and juggling. 
Ignorance, like every other habit, is daily improv- 
ing itself, and increases in strength as in years ; it 
delights to be still plunging into farther and deeper 
darkness. The less people understand, the more 
they stare ; and because there is nothing in the 
gospel but plain piety, plain reason, and plain mat- 
ter of fact, therefore it can raise no wonder, and, 
consequently, no popular piety ; but strange and 
mysterious ceremonies can do this, and, for that 
reason, have always got the better of religion in 
all bigoted assemblies. 

Here, then, is a glorious and ample field of 
gaping sottishness and credulity, in which crafty 
priests play their tricks, and sow superstition. 
Indeed, they have exalted themselves in this 
undertaking with such dexterity and success, that 
their humble and resigned votaries do not any 
longer pretend to carry their own eyes or under- 
standing. Their very palates and noses are priest- 
ridden, and dare neither taste nor smell without 
an ecclesiastical licence. Thus, even the invin- 
cible operations of the animal spirits, and of the 
five senses, must stand still, when commanded by 
a priest, who can annihilate the creature and create 
his creator. As, under the sacred name of God 



224 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

and religion, the greatest irreligion and impieties 
have been propagated, so, under the colour and 
umbrage of significant and decent ceremonies, the 
most ridiculous and immodest usages have been 
introduced. It would require more than a whole 
chapter to expose all the apish gesticulations 
of the Romish mass now celebrated almost in 
every town in England; I shall only run over a 
few of them. 

The priest, in the administration of mass, must 
wear a white linen garment, which I suppose 
must signify whiteness ; for I cannot see a more 
obvious meaning for it. The same was also worn 
by the primitive heathen clergy, when they 
butchered bullocks to appease their deities. As he 
approaches towards the altar, having great devo- 
tion in his back-bone, he bows, and bows, and 
ducks his head, as if he were playing at hop-frog. 
The altar is also covered with a surplice, or white 
cloth, which, doubtless, signifies some great mys- 
tery ; but, in profane eyes, typifies only a damask 
table-cloth. It also stands towards the east, which 
most certainly must have a deep meaning, and 
seems to imply as if the Almighty was either more 
merciful or more powerful in that quarter of the 
world, (though he made it all,) than in any of the 
other three ; or as if he liked that climate best, 
and all those who bow to it. He then, after many 
monkish gestures and scrapings, says a world of 
short prayers, (the whole service being judiciously 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 225 

sliced into pretty little morsels of devotion,) and reads 
scraps of scripture ; all which prayings and readings 
would not he half so wholesome any where else, as 
they are just at the elbow of the altar. Then there 
is a lighted candle standing by him at noon-day, 
probably to signify that there is light enough 
without it. In some churches the altar is only 
illuminated with dark candles, which, for aught 
I know, may be equally mysterious and sig- 
nificant ; but upon this great and essential point I 
shall pronounce nothing dogmatically. The priest 
then mutters words over the bread and wine, which 
immediately starts into omnipotent flesh and 
blood , and the living Jesus is swallowed wholly 
in remembrance of the dead one ; — the priest 
makes his Maker, and the people eat him ! The 
wine, which the priest very naturally keeps all to 
himself, must not be poured out of a bottle into a 
glass, which would not be significant enough ; but 
out of a flaggon, which, being of silver or gold, 
and holding more liquor, is consequently very sig- 
nificant. He repeats, " Lord have mercy upon 
us!" very often, to signify that he does it more 
than once; and speaks loudly, to signify that he 
may be heard. But I am quite sick of this 
strange significant stuff, before I have got 
through the tenth part of it. The whole per- 
formance is perfectly theatrical, and improperly 
and impiously called a sacrament. It is, indeed, a 
wretched, unentertaining interlude ; a stupid farce, 

Q 



226 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

of which the priest is the chief mimic ; for mum- 
bling and making mouths do not deserve the name 
of acting. 

We have had several attempts made to revive 
among us this infamous mummery in devotion, 
and these apish ceremonies, which are an affront 
to common sense, and below the dignity of human 
nature, much more of religion. But such attempts 
can never succeed, while we enjoy either liberty or 
knowledge. Archbishop Laud, when he had be- 
witched the court, swayed the sceptre, and de- 
stroyed the liberty of the people and of the press, 
took the best opportunity he could get, to trans- 
port Rome to Lambeth ; and, having married the 
harlot, he adopted her trumpery. A sample of this 
man's genius for popery may be seen in his mad 
manner of consecrating some new brick and mor- 
tar which had been used in the repair of St. Cathe- 
rine Creed church, London, as the same is related 
at large by Rushworth. At his approach to the 
west end of the church, the door flew open, upon 
pronouncing certain words out of the Psalms, — 
" That the King of Glory might enter." The 
bishop then entered, and, falling down upon his 
knees, baptized the ground, or, which is the same 
thing, pronounced it holy, in the name of the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He then threw dust 
in the air, and played some other pious pranks — 
pronounced many curses, and called upon the 
people to curse with him. He then scattered a 



CHURCH CEREMONIES. 227 

basketful of blessings among all the masons, and 
other holy mechanics, who had helped to make so 
fine a church. He also went round the church in 
procession, and told God Almighty and the people, 
over and over, that that was holy ground. At last, 
after a bead-roll of prayers, and a hundred-and- 
fifty bowings, and many wild gestures, some- 
times advancing, sometimes recoiling, like one 
affrighted and crazy, he gave the sacrament. Be- 
sides all this, he removed the communion-table, and 
placed it on the chancel, altar- wise, contrary to the 
express directions of the rubric ; which says, 
that it shall stand where morning and evening 
prayer is directed to be said. He made pictures of 
the Trinity, and caused them to be hung up in 
churches, and was guilty of many other popish in- 
novations, all tending to create fanaticism and 
superstition. 

This chapter grows too long, and leaves me no 
room to do justice to crosses, square caps, and fan- 
tastical robes ; all which, I warrant my reader, are 
profoundly mysterious ; though, to carnal eyes, 
they seem only intended to induce the people to 
stare ; for every odd sight strikes the imagination, 
and disposes the beholder either to laughter or 
reverence. Nor have I time to honour, with a 
proper encomium, that ingenious and ecclesiastical 
device, of explaining the sublime mystery of the 
Trinity by a pair of compasses ; indeed, it is above 
all explication, and even of conception, unless 

q2 



228 CHURCH CEREMONIES. 

through faith ; and of representing the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost, by a triangle in a circle, 
over the communion table. Was there ever such 
a pretty piece of pious cunning? By the said tri- 
angle is typified and held forth to us, that the said 
triangle consists of three angles, which is exceed- 
ing plain and edifying. By the circle is signified, 
that the said circle is but one circle, which is pro- 
digiously good again ! But how a triangle is a 
circle, and a circle is a triangle, I am at a loss to 
comprehend. 

I must for the same reason pass over unobserved, 
the praising of God with organs, which our homilies 
very uncivilly call superstitious ; engravings in the 
Common Prayer Book tending to prepare people 
for idolatry, and pictures in churches, for the 
same devout purpose. 



229 



CHAP. XIX. 



CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 

In our disputes with the Church of Rome, we con- 
tend, that the scripture alone is a sufficient rule 
of faith and practice, and our divines have proved 
it unanswerably ; but when our high church priests 
argue with dissenters, holy writ is not so highly 
complimented. It is then very subject to lead us 
into mistakes, and hard to be understood. It 
is true, it is infallible, and was given us from 
heaven to be a light to our feet, and a lamp to our 
paths ; but still it is dark and insufficient without 
human aid and explication : for though it is ex- 
ceeding plain to the members of the established 
church of England, and proves them to be right in 
every article, ceremony, and habit, it is utterly 
hidden from those who will not accept of our guid- 
ance, and submit to our authority. If they refuse 
to believe and obey the supplements and improve- 
ments of the Bible, therefore, and to accept of the 



230 CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 

salvation which is to be had in the church of Eng- 
land and the church of Rome, they shall have no 
salvation at all. It is fit and orthodox that men 
should perish for following their consciences, and 
for understanding the scriptures without the leave 
of the ordinary ! 

Thus, when they debate with the papists, they 
praise the scriptures, inveigh against the imposing 
of opinions, and speak in the style of dissenters ; 
but when they are pleased to rebuke non-conform- 
ists, they borrow the language of papists,' urge 
the authority of our apostolic church and her divine 
right to judge for others, and deal out hard language, 
and worse usage, to all that take the same privilege 
which they do. There is, however, this small dif- 
ference between the conformists and schismatics — 
the one have good pay for being orthodox, the other 
pay dearly for being in the wrong. If these are not 
good reasons for delivering schismatics over to Sa- 
tan, I despair of finding better. In consequence of 
this power in high churchmen to be the mouthsmen 
of the Bible, which, if we take their word, cannot 
speak for itself, they claim a right to make creeds 
for others, which is what I am now to examine. 

I think it but justice to the goodness of God 
to affirm, that belief or disbelief can neither be a 
virtue nor a crime, in any one who uses the best 
means in his power of being informed. If a pro- 
position be evident, we cannot avoid believing it ; 
and where is the merit or piety of a necessary assent ? 



CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 231 

If it be not evident, we cannot help rejecting it, or 
doubting it ; and where is the crime of not per- 
forming impossibilities, or not believing what does 
not appear to us to be true ? Are men who have 
good eyes, the more righteous for seeing ? or do 
they offend in seeing too well ? or do blind men 
sin, in not distinguishing colours ? 

When we clearly see the proof of a proposi- 
tion, or know that we have God's word for it, our 
assent is inevitable - but if we neither comprehend 
it, nor see God's authority for it, and yet swallow 
it, this is credulity, and not divine faith, which can 
have nothing less than divine truth for its object. 
When we are sure that God speaks to us, we 
readily believe Him, who cannot lie, nor be mis- 
taken, nor deceive us ; but when men speak, 
though from God himself, our belief in them is but 
human confidence, if we have only their own autho- 
rity that they had it from God. Their being bishops, 
their being learned, their meeting together in synods, 
all this alters not the case. We can judge of their 
opinions in no other way than as of the opinions 
of men ; and of their decisions, but as of human de- 
cisions. When the articles of any creed appear to 
be contained in scripture, whoever believes that, 
does, in consequence, believe them ; and then such 
creed is unnecessary : but when we cannot, or 
think we cannot, find them in scripture, and yet 
give equal credit to them, we depreciate and pro- 
fane the divine authority itself, by accepting the 



232 CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 

words of man's invention as wiser and more sig- 
nifieant th? vords of God's own choosing. 

We are sure that the scripture-phrases were 
inspired by the Holy Ghost, and as sure that our 
own forms and injunctions are human, and framed 
by priests. It is, therefore, strange that the former 
should be insufficient and unintelligible, and the 
latter infallible, and to be embraced and obeyed 
on the pain of damnation ; and that the priests 
must do what God has, without success, endea- 
voured to do. Besides, as the imposition of human 
creeds is contrary to reason, so it is also opposed 
to charity. They were generally made in a passion, 
not to edify, but to plague those for whom, or 
rather against whom, they were intended. They 
were the engines of wrath and vengeance, nor 
could they serve any other purpose. Those who 
believed them already, did not want them ; and 
those who disbelieved them were not the better 
for them. But this was not the worst of it ; for 
they who did not receive them, against their con- 
science, were cursed, and they who did, deserved 
it. So that either the wrath of God on the one hand, 
or the wrath and cruelty of the clergy on the other, 
was unavoidable. If people said they believed, and 
did not, they mocked God, and shipwrecked their 
souls ; and if they did not believe, and expressed 
their disbelief, though they saved their souls, they 
provoked their reverend fathers, and were destroyed. 
Whenever these dictators in faith had a mind to 



CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 233 

be mischievous, and to undo one who gave them 
signal offence, either by his good reputation or 
good bishopric, they began his ruin by their 
great care for his soul, and so invented a creed for 
him, which ruined him effectually, by giving him, 
as they said, to Satan, but in truth, to beggary, 
stripes, or names. He, therefore, who had any 
virtue or religion, was a certain sufferer by these 
systems of faith, which were contrived for that 
purpose. The man who had no conscience nor 
honesty, was not worthy of their anger, or 
which is most likely, was on the orthodox side, or 
at least, quickly became a convert to it, being, like 
themselves, able to swallow any thing. 

Thus creeds, as they were the result of revenge, 
pride, or avarice, were the constant preludes and 
introductions to ignorance, cruelty, and blood; 
and the wretched laity were craftily, as well as 
inhumanly, made the deluded and unnatural in- 
struments of butchering one another, to prove the 
infallibility of the faithmakers, who, while they 
were wantonly shedding Christian blood, and doom- 
ing to damnation those who called upon the name 
of the true God, had the shameless assurance to 
miscall themselves the ambassadors of the meek 
Jesus . And, indeed, what better could be expected 
from men so chosen, so unqualified, and so in- 
terested, as the members of these general creed- 
making councils for the most part were ? They 
were chosen from several places by a majority of 



234 CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 

votes, and they who were most aspiring, factious, 
or crafty, carried it. They sprung from the meanest 
of the people ; they were bred in cells, and 
popped into the world without experience or breed- 
ing ; they knew little of mankind, and less of 
government, and had not the common qualifica- 
tions of gentlemen ; they were governed by pas- 
sion, and led by expectation ; and, either eager 
for preferment, or impatient of missing it, they 
were the perpetual flatterers or disturbers of states 
and princes. — These were the men, and this their 
character. 

"When these reverend fathers were assembled 
together in a body, by the order of a prince, or a 
pope, who, having his necessities, or the ends of 
his ambition to serve, chose proper tools for those 
purposes, they were directed to form such creeds 
and systems of faith as their patrons' views or in- 
terests made it requisite for mankind to believe. In 
this new employment, every member, we may be 
certain, was forward to shew his talents in starting 
new tenets, or in contradicting those already in- 
troduced, and so to make himself sufficiently con- 
siderable for that preferment which he was resolved 
to earn one way or another. This being the great 
aim of all, jealousies and harsh language were 
carried to the most violent extent. There was no 
end of their wrangling and reviling. Not content 
to abuse each other by word of mouth, they some- 
times scolded in writing, and every reverend father 



CREEDS AND CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 235 

drew up a petition against other reverend fathers, 
in language more suitable for Billingsgate than for 
the church. Sometimes, not satisfied with volleys 
of scurrility, unheard of in assemblies of gentle- 
men, they had recourse to club-law, and made 
good their inventions and distinctions with blows 
and blood. If the truth could not be discovered 
by scolding, contradiction, and battering, it was not 
found out at all. Thus, any emperor or pope might 
have what creed he pleased, provided he would be 
at the pains and price of it ; and for the rest of 
mankind, they had this short choice — to comply, or 
be undone ! 



236 



CHAP. XX. 



THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 



The Almighty, in revealing his will to mankind, 
has always taken effectual care that it should not be 
mistaken, and therefore made it so plain, as to need 
no farther explanation, in all things which are ne- 
cessary for us to know. When he would have his 
pleasure known, it is agreeable to his goodness to 
make it evident ; when he would not, it is agree- 
able to his wisdom to make it impenetrable. 
Scripture was not given to make work for inter- 
preters, nor to teach men how to doubt, but how 
to live. The Holy Spirit has made undeniably 
clear and manifest all those precepts that enjoin 
faith and obedience, which are the great points of 
religion. 

I think it is generally granted, that revelations 
are no more, and that prophecy has ceased. The 
reason given for this I take to be a very good one ; 
viz. that God has already sufficiently discovered 
his mind to men, and made his meaning manifest. 
If it were otherwise, we should doubtless have his 



THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 237 

extraordinary presence still ; but as we have not, 
it is to be presumed that there is no occasion for it. 
He appeared himself whilst men were in darkness, 
but now that he has shewn them his marvellous 
light, he appears no more. His presence is sup- 
plied by his word, which being addressed to all 
men equally, and not to one tribe of men, to inter- 
pret it for the rest, it follows that all men have in 
their power the means to understand it. Old re- 
velation, therefore, does not want the assistance 
of new, nor has the Almighty any need of prolo- 
cutors. 

While God is delivering his law to the world, 
he is plain, even to exactness ; and his orders are 
full and circumstantial, even about the minutest 
points. This is eminently proved by his manner 
of giving laws to the Jews. Every ceremony, 
and every instrument and garment, used in their 
worship, is precisely described and directed. The 
trumpets, the candlesticks, the lamps, the spoons, 
the snuffers, are all of his own appointment, both 
as to the materials and the use of them. He 
makes it impossible to mistake. He calls the 
priests by their names, points out their persons, 
and shews them every branch of their office. He 
limits and governs their behaviour while they are 
about it, and does not leave it to their wisdom to 
invent such postures and ceremonies as they think 
fit to call decent and significant. They had not 
the privilege to choose their own garments. Moses, 



238 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 

who was the civil magistrate, had it in his charge 
to sanctify and consecrate their persons. Their 
business in the sacrifices is pointed out to them: 
they are to put their hands upon the head of the 
beast, and to receive its blood, and to make fires. 
They are not, as I remember, once made use of to 
speak God's mind to his people ; that is the duty 
and commission of the civil magistrate, and Moses 
performs it. They had not the least hand in cele- 
brating the passover — the Jewish sacrament, to 
which our's of the Lord's Supper has, it is said, 
succeeded. As little were they employed in that 
other of circumcision, the reputed ancestor of bap- 
tism. In short, their whole function was to be 
servants and operators in the house of sacrifice. 

If the Almighty was thus punctual and particu- 
lar in the rituals and outside of his worship, can we 
imagine that he was defective or obscure in de- 
claring the more weighty points of the law ? No. 
When our first parents broke the covenant, they 
did it wilfully, and could not pretend that they 
understood it not : " Of the tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it," was 
the injunction that was laid upon them. There 
was no need of a commentator here ; the text 
might have been rendered more perplexing, but 
not more plain. 

The covenant which God made with Abraham 
was not less clear. He was to be the God of 
Abraham and of his seed ; and every male of his 



THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 239 

race, and those that were bought with money were 
to be circumcised. There were no more words to 
this contract ; and the patriarch and his issue had 
but one short system of divinity, most intelligible 
in itself, and in nowise darkened with glosses. 

The Decalogue, or the law of the Ten Com- 
mandments, delivered by God himself from Mount 
Sinai, with great glory and astonishing circum- 
stances, was little else but the law of nature re- 
duced into tables, and expressed in words of God's 
own choosing. And they were worthy of the omni- 
potent and infallible Author, for they were so 
plain and indisputable, that not a single person of 
all the twelve tribes, so addicted on such occasions 
to contradiction and wrangling, so much as pre- 
tended not to understand them. Nor was there 
one man, much less a body of men, set apart to 
explain them. 

When God spoke to the Jews by his prophets, 
the same method of clearness was observed. The 
admonitions given, and the judgments denounced, 
were adapted to the capacity of every one con- 
cerned. The Jews, it is true, did not often believe 
them, at least not mind them ; but it was never 
pleaded that they did not comprehend them. God 
inspired, the prophets spake, and all understood ; 
but neither creeds nor paraphrases were made, for 
they were not necessary. At last, indeed, the 
priests and pharisees made void the word of God 
by their traditions, and very rigidly tithing mint 



240 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 

and cummin, neglected the greater things of the 
law, and taught for doctrines the commandments 
of men. But we know what thanks and character 
they had for their pains from the Saviour of the 
world, and what a terrible doom he pronounced 
against them. Read the twenty- third chapter of 
St. Matthew's gospel, and see the description of 
these vile hypocrites, and then consider whether 
they be at this day without heirs and successors. 
Indeed, their's seems to me to be the only succes- 
sion which has not been interrupted. 

The gospel, when it came, as it was to excel all 
other laws in its ends and usefulness, so was it the 
shortest and plainest institution in the world. It 
only added the duty of faith to that of good works, 
which were the great, if not the only business of 
the moral law. To believe that Jesus Christ was 
the only Son of God, was the great principle of the 
Christian religion. Nor was the practice of this 
belief attended with the least difficulty, since our 
Saviour proved his mission and omnipotence, by 
miracles that were undeniable and convincing. For 
the truth of them he appealed to men's senses. There 
was neither mystery nor juggling in his actions, nor 
did they want any one to explain them. 

All this is further confirmed by the conduct of 
the apostles. The constant drift and tenor of 
their lives and preaching, was to persuade mankind 
to believe in Jesus Christ ; in order to which they 
worked miracles, and gave the Holy Ghost. The 



THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 241 

precept was thus short, and the motives to comply 
with it were thus irresistible. Hence it was, that 
sometimes thousands were convinced in a moment, 
without either commentaries, creeds, or catechisms. 
Indeed, who could avoid believing a proposition 
that proved itself? 

The apostles, when they had converted one city, 
did not stay to establish a hierarchy there, and to 
tell the same thing over and over again to those 
who knew it already. No ; when they had planted 
the faith in one place, they travelled to another, 
and preached the gospel to the unconverted world ; 
leaving those already converted to perform Chris- 
tian worship their own way. If they believed in 
Christ, and lived soberly, the apostles desired no 
more. Those were the two things needful, nor 
were they more needful than clear. 

In this plain manner did the Almighty always 
discover himself and his will, whenever he dispensed 
his laws to men. On the other hand, while he hid 
himself from the heathen world, did their priests 
ever discover him ? No ; they had deities without 
number ; they worshipped stocks and stones, trees, 
rivers, bulls, serpents, monkeys, and garlic. Both 
their religion and their gods were of the priest's 
making, and therefore, we may be certain, they 
were hopeful ones. They created their deities after 
their own likeness — angry, cruel, covetous, and 
lustful. Their mysteries were full of horror, ob- 
sceneness, craft, and delusion. The will of their 



242 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 

god was searched in the entrails and ordure of dead 
beasts ; and a coop of chickens were his privy coun- 
sellors. His favour or displeasure depended upon 
their maws ; if they had puny stomachs, the god 
was in a fit of the spleen ; if ravenous, he was in a 
giving humour, and would grant any thing, even 
to the cutting of the throats of a whole army, the 
burning of a city, or the plundering of a province. 
When he was tired of his favourites, he would, in 
a day or two, do all this for an enemy. 

Upon the whole, when the Almighty reveals his 
will, he does it effectually ; but when he disguises 
it in dark and doubtful expressions, it is plain that 
the time of making himself farther known to men 
is not yet come, and it is in vain to pry into his 
secrets. We are certain that the all-merciful God 
does never require of us that which we cannot find 
he requires. It is not consistent with his wisdom 
and goodness, to make that necessary which he has 
not made plain. He has, with the greatest perspi- 
cuity, described the candlesticks, tongs, and other im- 
plements of worship under the Jewish law; and yet, 
in the gospel, he has not said one word of some doc- 
trines which we are told are necessary to salvation. 
Altars and priests are divinely appointed in the old 
dispensation, but are neither directed nor described 
in the new ; and yet we know of what importance 
they are at present held to be, by many of the 
clergy. The priest's office is particularized and 
circumscribed, even to the killing of a goat, or a 



THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 243 

pair of pigeons ; and yet, under the gospel, it is 
not so much as hinted that a priest shall admi- 
nister either of the sacraments. Yet, if we hearken 
to the clergy, there can be no sacrament without 
them. In the Levitical law, the sons of Levi are 
expressly appointed to be priests continually ; but 
it is not once said in the Christian law, that there 
must be an uninterrupted race of bishops, or popes, 
or priests, to the end of the world, and that there 
can be no church where it is not. But if this had 
been needful, it must have been particularized. So 
essential a part of the Christian religion, and so ab- 
solutely necessary to every man's salvation, could 
never have been wholly omitted, or so much as left 
in doubt. 

As, by the law of Moses, the priest's office and 
duty were minutely described, so their maintenance 
was ascertained. But by what law of Christ is 
the priesthood appointed, and where is the certain 
provision made for them ? It is said, indeed, that 
the labourer is worthy of his hire ; and I acknow- 
ledge it to be fit that those who hire the clergy should 
pay them. But surely this text leaves every one 
at liberty to choose his own labourer, and to make 
as good a bargain as he can ; or to do his own 
business himself. What pretence is there, in the 
gospel dispensation, of a divine right to just a 
tenth part, and not only of our estates, but of our 
stock and industry, too, which, in some corn lands, 
comes to double the rent that the landlord receives ? 

r2 



244 THE CLEARNESS OF SCRIPTURE. 

The tribe of Levi, amongst the Jews, were the 
twelfth tribe of Israel, and, in the division of the 
lands, had a right to the twelfth share, without 
any regard to their priestly office. They were, 
consequently, allowed but a very small proportion 
towards their hire ; much less, I doubt, than would 
satisfy their pretended successors. I would, as a 
sincere friend to the clerical order, recommend to 
their consideration, whether it would not be more 
advisable to quit their divine right, and be con- 
tented with the laws of the land ? 



245 



CHAP. XXI. 



REMARKS ON THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

By Liturgy is understood certain prescribed and 
limited forms of prayer, composed for the public 
service of the church, and appointed to be read at 
all times of public worship. In this particular we 
wish to prescribe to no man's conscience. We beg 
only to appeal to the Proclamation of Edward VI., 
wherein the original of our liturgy is published to 
the world. The statute mentions four different 
forms then in use, out of which an uniform office 
was to be collected, viz., the use of Sarum, of 
Bangor, of York, and of Lincoln, — all which were 
Roman, rather than Christian. 

If there had been any liturgies in the times of 
the first and most venerable antiquity, the great 
inquirers after them would have produced them to 
the world before this time ; but that there were 
none in the Christian church, is evident from Ter- 
tullian, in his Apol. cap. 30, where he says, " The 
Christians of those times, in their public assem- 
blies, prayed, sine monitor e quia de pectore, without 



246 REMARKS ON THE LITURGY 

any prompter except their own hearts." And in 
his Treatise of Prayer, he adds, " There are some 
things to be asked according to the occasions of 
every man." St. Austin says the same thing, 
(Ep. 121.) " It is free," says he, " to ask the same 
things that are desired in the Lord's prayer, aliis 
atque aliis verbis, sometimes in one manner of ex- 
pression, and sometimes in another." And before 
this, Justin Martyr, in his Apology, says, "h nqosorfc, 
the president, or he that instructed the people, 
prayed according to his ability, or as well as he 
could." Nor was this liberty of prayer taken away 
till the times when the Arian and Pelagian heresies 
invaded the church. It was then first ordained, 
that none should pray, pro arbitrio, sed semper 
easdem preces ; that they should not use the liberty 
which they had hitherto practised, but should 
always keep to one form of prayer.* Still, this 
was a form of the ministers' own composing, as 
appears by a Canon of the Council of Carthage, 
a.d. 397, which gives this reason for it: — ut nemo 
in precibus vel Pair em pro Filio, vel Filium pro Patre 
nominet, et cum altari adsistitur semper ad Patrem diri- 
gatur oratio, et quicunque sibi preces aliunde describit y 
non Us utatur nisiprius eas cum fratribus instructioribus 
contulerit ; i.e. that none in their prayers might 
mistake the Father for the Son, or the Son for the 
Father; and that when they assist at the altar, 

* Vide 18th Canon of the Council of Laodicea. 



OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 247 

prayer might be always directed to the Father ; 
and whoever composes any different forms, let 
him not make use of them till he has first con- 
sulted with his more learned brethren. It appears 
from hence, that there was no uniform prescribed 
liturgy at this time in the church ; but that the 
more ignorant priests might make use of forms of 
their own composing, provided they consulted 
their more learned brethren ; till, at length, it was 
ordained at the Council of Milan, a.d. 416, that 
none should use set forms of prayer except such 
as were approved in a synod. 

The manner of public worship in the times of 
Justin Martyr and Tertullian, was this : — First, the 
scriptures were read; after reading, followed an ex- 
hortation to the practice and imitation of what was 
read ; then all rose up and joined in prayer ; after 
this they went to the sacrament, in the beginning 
of which the president of the assembly poured out 
prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability, 
and the people said Amen ; then followed the dis- 
tribution of the elements, and a collection of alms. 
This was Justin Martyr's liturgy or service ; and 
Tertullian's is the same, only he mentions their 
beginning with prayer before reading the scriptures, 
and their love-feasts, which also opened and con- 
cluded with prayer, and were celebrated with sing- 
ing of psalms. 

When our Lord taught his disciples a form of 
prayer, he never designed to confine them to the 



248 REMARKS ON THE LITURGY 

use of those words only, nor did the primitive 
church so understand it, as is proved by St. Austin. 
The pretended liturgies of St. James, Basil, and 
St. Chrysostom, are of little weight, as being al- 
lowed by the most learned critics, both protestants 
and papists, to be full of forgeries and spurious in- 
sertions. Bishop Burnet says,* that it was in the 
fourth century that the liturgies of St. James, St. 
Basil, &c. were first mentioned; that the Council of 
Laodicea appointed the same prayers to be used 
mornings and evenings ; but that these forms were 
left to the discretion of every bishop ; nor was it 
made the subject of any public consultation till St. 
Austin's time, when, in their dealing with heretics, 
they found they took advantage from some of the 
prayers that were in some churches ; upon which 
it was ordered that there should be no public 
prayers used but by common advice. ' ' Formerly," 
says the Bishop, " the worship of God was a pure 
and simple thing, and so it continued till super- 
stition had so infected the church that those forms 
were thought too naked, unless they were put 
under more artificial rules, and dressed up with 
much ceremony. In every age there were notable 
additions made, and almost all the writers in the 
eighth and ninth centuries employed their fancies 
to find out mystical significations for every rite 
that was then in use, till at length there were so 

* His. Ref. part ii. p. 72. 



OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 249 

many missals, breviaries, rituals, pontificals, pon- 
toises, pies, graduals, antiphonals, psalteries, 
hours, and a great many more, that the under- 
standing how to officiate was become so hard a 
piece of trade that it was not to be learned without 
long practice." We willingly challenge the present 
Bench of Bishops to produce any one genuine 
liturgy used in the Christian church, during the first 
three hundred years after Christ. 

At the Reformation a new liturgy was intro- 
duced ; but the Parliament, in 1644, discarded it, 
and introduced a new plan for the devotion of the 
church. The reasons for doing this I shall tran- 
scribe from the parliamentary annals : — " It is 
evident, after long and sad experience, that the 
liturgy used in the Church of England, notwith- 
standing all the pains and religious intentions of 
the compilers, has proved an offence to many of 
the godly at home, and to the reformed churches 
abroad. The enjoining the reading all the prayers 
heightened the grievances ; and the many unpro- 
fitable and burdensome ceremonies have occasioned 
much mischief, by disquieting the consciences of 
many who could not yield to them. Sundry good 
people have, by this means, been kept from the 
Lord's table ; and many faithful ministers debarred 
from the exercise of their ministry, to the ruin of 
them and their families. The prelates and their 
faction have raised their estimation of it to such a 
height, as if God could be worshipped no other 



250 REMARKS ON THE LITURGY 

way but by the service book; in consequence of 
which the preaching of the word has been depre- 
ciated, and, in some places, entirely neglected. 

" In the mean time, the papists have made their 
advantage this way, boasting that the Common 
Prayer Book came up to a compliance with a great 
part of their service ; by which means they were 
not a little confirmed in their idolatry and super- 
stition, especially of late, when new ceremonies 
were daily obtruded on the church. 

" Besides, the liturgy has given great encou- 
ragement to an idle and unedifying ministry, who 
chose rather to confine themselves to forms made 
to their hands, than to exert themselves in the 
exercise of the gift of prayer, with which our 
Saviour furnishes all those whom he calls to that 
office. 

1 ' For these and many other weighty considera- 
tions relating to the book in general, besides divers 
particulars, which are a just ground of offence, 
it is advisable and proper to set aside the former 
liturgy, with the many rites and ceremonies for- 
merly used in the worship of God ; not out of any 
affectation of novelty, nor with an intention to dis- 
parage our first reformers, but that we may answer 
in some measure the gracious providence of God, 
which now calls upon us for a further reformation ; 
— that we may satisfy our own consciences, an- 
swer the expectations of other reformed churches, 
ease the consciences of many godly persons among 



OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 25] 

ourselves, and give a public testimony of our en- 
deavours after an uniformity of divine worship." 

That the present liturgy needs cancelling or 
revising, I shall shew in Chap, xxix., " On the 
necessity of a Reformed Church," and intend, at 
no distant time, to take upon myself to draw up a 
new Service, for those who are fond of forms. 



252 



CHAP. XXII. 



THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND PROVED TO BE A CREATURE OF 
THE STATE. 

In the days of the Reformation, the Protestant 
high clergy endeavoured to divert the growing 
spirit of reform in the Christian world to meta- 
physical and useless speculations, of no benefit to 
the present or eternal happiness of mankind, whilst 
they were seating themselves at leisure in the 
chairs of their predecessors. But far otherwise 
was it, where it fell under the direction of laymen, 
who considered it as an opportunity put by Heaven 
into their hands, to free themselves from the 
usurpations and unjust domination of the priest- 
hood. They made no scruple to seize and apply 
to public uses, a great part of those riches which 
the Roman clergy had extorted from old women, 
and superstitious and silly bigots, — the com- 
positions for murders, for public and private rob- 
beries, the plunder of dying and despairing sinners, 
and the support of their own idleness, pride, 
ignorance, and debauchery. 



THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND &C. 253 

A bold and honest physician, whose name was 
Erastus, at this time started up and told the world, 
that all these squabbles of the clergy about their 
own power, were disputes de lana caprina, con- 
cerning a nonentity, and that none of them had 
any right to what they almost all claimed ; that 
the quarrel amongst them was only which of them 
should oppress the laity, who were independent of 
them all, for that their ministers were their ser- 
vants, creatures of their own making, and not of 
God Almighty's. He shewed them, both from 
reason and scripture, that every state had the same 
authority of modelling their ecclesiastical, as well 
as civil government ; that the gospel gave no pre- 
eminence or authority to Christians over one 
another, but every man alike, who had suitable 
abilities, was qualified to execute all the duties 
and offices of their most holy religion ; and that 
it was only a matter of prudence and convenience, 
to appoint particular persons to officiate for the 
rest, with proper rewards and encouragements, 
which persons would be entitled to no more power 
than they themselves gave them. 

This doctrine, as little as it pleased the clergy, 
yet prevailed so far with the laity, that most pro- 
testant states modelled their ecclesiastical polity 
according to their own inclinations or interests ; 
and particularly in England, the whole Reformation 
was built upon this principle, which, till of late 
years, was esteemed the great characteristic of the 



254 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

Church of England. It is, therefore, the height of 
clerical insolence for a body of men to call them- 
selves the only true churchmen, at the same time 
that they deny, and every where exclaim against 
the fundamental and essential article which dis- 
tinguishes our's from most other churches ; for as 
to the rest of the articles, the Calvinists are more 
orthodox than the churchmen themselves. 

At the beginning of the Reformation, the clergy 
here in England, conscious of their own enor- 
mities, and the just vengeance which hung over 
their heads, were contented to disgorge their ill- 
gotten, and as ill-used power ; and, in full convoca- 
tion, they threw themselves upon the king's mercy, 
acknowledging his supremacy in the fullest and 
most significant words ; and promised, in verbo 
sacerdotii, that, for the future, they would never 
presume to attempt, allege, claim, or put in use, 
enact, or promulgate any canons, constitutions, or 
ordinances, without the king's most royal license 
and assent had thereunto • and humbly besought 
his majesty to appoint thirty- two persons, half 
clergy, and half laity, to examine the canons and 
constitutions in being, and to abrogate and con- 
firm them as they should think good. 

This petition was changed into an Act of Par- 
liament by the 25th of Hen. VIII. cap. 19. But it 
is there declared, " that the crown and convocation 
together, shall not put in execution any canons, 
constitutions, or ordinances, which shall be con- 



PROVED TO BE A CREATURE OF THE STATE. 255 

trariant or repugnant to the king's prerogative, or 
the laws of the kingdom." The same statute also 
gives an appeal from the supreme ecclesiastical 
court to the king's commission. 

In the same session of Parliament, the manner 
of proceeding upon the conge-d'elire is directed, # 
viz., a license from the crown is to be sent to the 
chapter, directing them to choose or elect an arch- 
bishop or bishop. A letter missive is sent with it, 
nominating the person whom they are to choose, 
which, if they do not obey, nor signify the same 
according to the tenor of the Act, within twenty 
days, they are subjected to a praemunire : if the 
election be not made within twelve days, the king 
may nominate a bishop, by letters patent, without 
any election at all, as is now done in Ireland, and 
formerly was in Scotland, where their bishops were 
durante bene placito. 

The next year, the Parliament,! reciting that the 
king justly and rightly is, and ought to be, su- 
preme head of the Church of England, enacted the 
same, and that he shall have full power to visit, 
redress, reform, correct, and restrain all errors, 
heresies, abuses, offences, contempts, and enormi- 
ties, whatsoever they be, which, by any manner of 
spiritual authority or jurisdiction, ought, or may 
be reformed, redressed, &c. Afterwards, in the 
37th year of the same reign, the Parliament, recit- 

* 25 Hen. VIII. cap. 20.. f 26 Hen. VIII. cap, 1. 



256 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

ing that the Bishop of Rome and his adherents, 
minding utterly to abolish, obscure, and delete the 
power given by God to the princes of the earth, 
whereby they might get and gather to themselves 
the rule and government of the world, had decreed, 
that no layman might exercise ecclesiastical juris- 
diction, lest their false and usurped power, which 
they pretended to have in Christ's church, might 
decay, wax vile, and be of no reputation, which 
power they affirm to be contrary to the word of 
God, and to his majesty's most high prerogative ; 
and reciting also, that archbishops, bishops, arch- 
deacons, and other ecclesiastical persons, have no 
manner of jurisdiction ecclesiastical, but by, from, 
and under the king's majesty, enact that laymen, 
qualified as the law appoints, may exercise all 
parts of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and all censures 
and coercions appertaining, or in any wise belong- 
ing thereunto. 

The 2nd and 3rd of Edward VI., cap. 1, enacts 
the Common Prayer Book, which before was com- 
piled and drawn up by the king's authority, and 
makes it a law. The 3rd and 4th of Edward VI. , 
cap, 12, appoints such form and manner of mak- 
ing and consecrating archbishops, bishops, priests, 
and deacons, and other ministers of the church, 
as by six prelates, and six other men of this realm, 
by the king to be appointed and assigned, or by 
the greater number of them, shall be devised, &c, 
and none other. These two Acts were confirmed, 



PROVED TO BE A CREATURE OF THE STATE. 257 

with some alterations, in the 5th and 6th year of 
the reign of George II. 

The 1st of Queen Elizabeth, cap. 1, establishes 
and enacts, that all jurisdictions, privileges, supe- 
riorities, and pre-eminences, spiritual and ecclesi- 
astical, at any time lawfully used or exercised, for 
the visitation of the ecclesiastical state, or persons, 
and for the reformation, order, and correction of 
the same, and of all manner of errors, heresies, 
schisms, abuses, contempts, offences, and enormi- 
ties, shall be annexed to the imperial crown of this 
realm ; and gives power and authority thereto to 
appoint any persons, being natural born subjects, 
to exercise all sorts of ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; 
and declares, at the same time, what, and what 
only, shall be deemed heresy. The oath of supre- 
macy, which is an assent to these laws, and obliges 
those who take it to assist and defend them, is 
appointed in this Act ; which oath all ecclesiastical 
persons, as well as any others, who shall be pro- 
moted and preferred to any degree or order in the 
university, are to take, under severe penalties. 

The 8th of Elizabeth, reciting, that the Queen 
had in her order and disposition, all jurisdiction, 
power, and authority, ecclesiastical as well as 
civil, and had caused divers archbishops and 
bishops to be duly elected and consecrated, con- 
firms all the said elections and consecrations, as 
also the Common Prayer Book, and the orders 
and forms for the making of priests, deacons, and 



258 THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, &C. 

ministers, which were added to it in the fifth and 
sixth years of Edward VI. These Acts are all 
now in being, and in full force, and are sworn to by- 
all the clergy, who are subjected to a praemunire if 
they contradict them. Thus, our parliaments, soon 
after the Reformation, whilst the memory of sacer- 
dotal oppressions remained with them, were re- 
solved to curb the insolence of the clergy, and not 
leave it in their power to corrupt religion any more. 
For this purpose, they put it under the care of the 
civil magistrate, who could seldom have any inte- 
rest in perverting it. 






259 



CHAP. XXIII. 



THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND PROVED TO BE 
CREATURES OF THE STATE. 

In the last chapter, it was shewn what is meant by 
the supremacy of the crown of England, by virtue 
of which, our kings, sometimes with, and some- 
times without, the Parliaments, have governed 
and modelled the ecclesiastical state ever since the 
Reformation. Bishops, as well as inferior clergy- 
men, have been often suspended and deprived by 
the king's authority; and, in the instance of 
Archbishop Abbot, during his pleasure. The 
popish bishops were all deprived by Queen Eliza- 
beth ; some thousands of the parochial clergy 
were rejected by the Act of Uniformity ; and 
many, also, of all orders, were deprived at the 
Revolution. 

I shall now proceed to shew what have been the 
opinions and practice of the whole body of the 
ecclesiastics, since the making of these laws ; in 
doing which, I shall take notice only of their 

s 2 



260 THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

public and authentic acts ; for as to the caprice 
and whims of private doctors, I think them of so 
little weight, that I should be ashamed to quote 
them on either side of the question. 

Upon the clergy's acknowledging the king as Su- 
preme Head of the Church, at the Reformation, all 
the bishops took out commissions for exercising 
their ecclesiastical jurisdiction ; which were again 
renewed upon his son's coming to the throne. 
In these commissions, all ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
is owned to proceed from the crown, as from a 
supreme head, and fountain, and as the spring of all 
magistracy in the kingdom. They acknowledge that 
they executed their jurisdiction formerly only ex 
precario, and that now, with grateful minds, they 
accepted the favour from the king's liberality and 
indulgence, and would be always ready to yield it 
up again, when his Majesty pleased to require it. 

These commissions recited, among other par- 
ticulars of spiritual power, that of ordaining pres- 
byters, and of ecclesiastical correction. 

The 2nd canon excommunicates every one who 
shall endeavour to hurt or extenuate the king's 
authority in ecclesiastical cases, as it is settled by 
the laws of the kingdom ; and declares he shall not 
be restored till he has publicly recanted such im- 
pious errors. 

The 37th canon obliges all persons, to their 
utmost, to keep and observe all and every one of 
the statutes and laws made for restoring to the 



PROVED TO BE CREATURES OF THE STATE. 261 

crown the ancient jurisdiction it had over the 
ecclesiastical state. 

The 12th of King James's canons declares, that 
whoever shall affirm that it is lawful for the order 
either of ministers or laics to make canons, 
decrees, or constitutions in ecclesiastical matters, 
without the king's authority, and submits himself 
to be governed by them, is, ipso facto, excom- 
municated, and is not to be absolved before he has 
publicly repented and renounced these anabaptis- 
tical errors. 

Archbishop Bancroft, when at the head of all 
the bishops of England, delivered articles to King 
James, for increasing the ecclesiastical courts, 
and for annexing all ecclesiastical, as well as 
civil power, to the crown. This may be seen 
at large in Lord Coke's third institute, which 
I would recommend to the perusal of every one, 
as a specimen of the difference held to exist between 
ecclesiastics and laymen. 

I think it necessary here only to add, that 
the clergy have never presumed, by any public 
act, directly to controvert this prerogative, or 
indeed, even to nibble at it, unless in one instance 
during the reign of Queen Anne, which she highly 
resented, and made the convocation know, by a 
letter to the Archbishop, that, " she was resolved to 
maintain her supremacy, as a fundamental part of the 
constitution of the church of England." This, then, 



262 THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

is the supremacy of the crown ; these are the 
genuine principles of the Church of Great Britain, 
which, whoever denies, may be a papist, a pres- 
byterian, a dissenter, or any thing but a mem- 
ber of the Church of England. This doctrine and 
these opinions have been acknowledged and sworn 
to by every ecclesiastic since the Reformation ; and 
we daily see that they are all ready to swear them 
over again, upon any fresh motives of advantage. 
Surely, no man will suggest, that the whole clergy of 
England have lived in a state of perjury for nearly 
three hundred years. I am sure, if this be the 
case, it is not their interest to let us know it. 

We have it here upon oath, that all jurisdiction, 
power, and authority, spiritual or ecclesiastical, of 
what kind or sort soever it be, flows from, and 
is derived from, the king's majesty. The clergy 
have been always delighted at distinctions and 
discoveries : if they can find out any power or 
authority, which is of no hind or sort whatever, I 
think they ought to have it for their pains. I wish 
them much joy with it, and shall own it always to 
be sacrilege in any one who shall attempt to take it 
from them. But if there be any such thing, it is 
plain that it belongs to them as governors of the 
invisible church, and is of a nature of which we 
know nothing. 

It is certain, then, that archbishops and bishops 
are creatures of the civil power, and derive their 



PROVED TO BE CREATURES OF THE STATE. 263 

being and existence from it. They are chosen by 
the direction of one Act of parliament, and ordained 
and consecrated according to a model prescribed 
by another. Those who officiate in the service, 
act only ministerially, and all other methods of 
choosing them which the clergy can devise, are 
declared to be void and ineffectual. They have no 
spiritual power to induce any clergyman to pay 
submission to the choice, should he not like the 
man ; or if he did, provided he thought he should 
lose any thing by his choice. If the bishops have 
no power but what they derive from the crown, 
they can convey none, but of the same sort, to the 
inferior clergy. 

I durst not have incurred the imputation of ca- 
lumny, in charging any of the present clergy with 
principles or practices directly in defiance of their 
notorious and frequently repeated oaths and sub- 
scriptions, if I had not authority to bear me out. 
In an appeal of Dr. Wake, then, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, he says, " a new sort of disciplina- 
rians are arisen up from among ourselves, who 
seem to comply with the government of the church, 
much upon the same account as others do with that 
of the state ; not out of conscience to their duty, or 
any love they have for it, but because it is the 
established church, and they cannot keep their pre- 
ferments without it. They hate our constitution, 
and all who stand up in good earnest for it ; but 



264 THE CLERGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

for all that, they hold fast to it ; and so go on to 
subscribe and rail." 

To such practices as these we owe the present 
disaffection to the clergy, and most, if not all the 
calamities and public disturbances which have hap- 
pened since the Revolution ; and yet, lamentable 
to say, they have prevailed so far among the cor- 
rupt part of the clergy, that I wish we could find 
more, even of those who are called " evangelical," 
who dare thoroughly to renounce these impious and 
anabaptistical errors, as their own canons call them. 

Dominion ! Dominion ! is the loud cry, which, 
as it has already produced the cruelties and absur- 
dities of popery, is still teeming with, or bringing 
forth, new monsters. What other issue, indeed, 
can be expected from so unnatural a union 
as that of the Christian priesthood with worldly 
power ? 

To this we are beholden for all the corruptions 
and follies brought into religious worship, as well 
as the ill-shapen and ungainly brats of passive 
obedience, the divine right of kings and bishops, 
the uninterrupted succession, the priest's power 
of the keys — of binding and loosing, remitting and 
retaining sins — the real presence in the sacrament, 
the altar, and unbloody sacrifice upon it, the 
giving of the Holy Ghost, excommunication, 
the consecration of churches and church-yards, 
persecution for opinions, the tritheistical cha- 



PROVED TO BE CREATURES OF THE STATE. 265 

rity, and a long train of monkish fooleries, no 
part of which could ever have entered into the 
heart of one layman, or clergyman either, if no 
earthly advantage had been, by them, to be ob- 
tained. 



266 



CHAP. XXIV. 



A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 

I have, in the twenty-first chapter of this work, 
endeavoured to vindicate the Almighty from the 
imputation of obscurity, in revealing his will to 
mankind ; and shewn that He is plain, exact, and 
even circumstantial, when He delivers his precepts 
to them. I shall now expose the contrary method 
of weak and corrupt men, by giving a general 
idea of the principal arts by which the designing 
priests of all religions have kept their craft and 
impostures from a discovery, and made the truth, 
as far as they could, inaccessible to the people. 

Every bad action or principle in religion and 
government, must have some apparent cause as- 
signed for it, calculated to amuse the people, and 
to conceal the true cause. Mankind, as tame as 
priests and tyrants have made them, will not be 
satisfied to be deceived or butchered, without 
having a reason for it. The pope, who assumes a 
power to judge for all men, and devotes whole 
nations to massacre and damnation, and sends 



A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 267 

people to heaven or hell in colonies, just as their 
money or disobedience determines him, acts a very- 
consistent part in tying the keys of both worlds 
to his girdle, and in styling himself, God's absolute 
vicar general. These are his reasons ; and the 
Catholic and more orthodox parts of Europe are 
perfectly contented with them. 

In former reigns, when many of our English 
clergy thought proper to tie us hand and foot, 
and deliver us over to our kings, as their proper 
goods and chattels, to be fed or slayed according 
to their sacred will and pleasure, they told us that 
it was the ordinance of God, that one man might 
glut his lust, or his cruelty, with the destruction 
of millions ; and if we kept out of harm's way 
we were assuredly damned. These were their 
reasons then. Of late, it is true, many of them 
have changed their doctrine and behaviour. We 
are, it seems, at present, living in the guilt of 
rebellion, which is a damnable sin ; and so we are 
to rebel, upon pain of damnation, to free ourselves 
from the damnation which follows rebellion. These 
are their reasons now. 

Formerly, when certain persons were satis- 
fied to be Protestants, the Church of Rome was 
the spiritual Babylon, and the scarlet whore, and 
Sodom; and the pope was anti-Christ, for he sat 
in the temple of God, and exalted himself above 
all that is called God. But this was truth, and 
could not hold long, considering into whose hands 



268 A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 

it was fallen ; and, therefore, in a little time, when 
they wished to get into the pope's place, and to 
do and say as he did, the Church of Rome became 
all of a sudden a true Church, and an old Church, 
and our mother Church. In short, the old withered 
harlot, and mother of whoredoms, grew a great 
beauty, and her daughter, here in England, re- 
sembled her mamma more and more every day she 
lived, and gave the foregoing reasons for her 
belief. 

From hence it is evident, that though for every 
imposture some cause must be assigned, yet often- 
times a very indifferent one will serve the turn. 
The bulk of mankind are dull and credulous ; few 
make any inquiries at all, and fewer make success- 
ful ones. It is, however, still best if the cheat 
stands upon such a foundation, that it cannot be 
searched nor examined by any human eye. 

When Numa Pompilius told the Romans that 
he conversed familiarly with the nymph Egeria, 
which of them could pay her a visit, and ask her 
whether the prince and she were in earnest such 
very good neighbours ? When Mahomet took 
such a wide range upon his nag Elborach, and told 
wonders at his return, there was neither man nor 
horse in all Arabia that could take the same journey 
to disprove him ; nor did I ever hear that when he 
was pleased to be thought conversant with the an- 
gel Gabriel, the angel signed a certificate that they 
were unacquainted. The quack, who had found 



A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 269 

out the true fern-seed, and the green dragon, 
thought it would be, no doubt, a hard matter to 
prove him a liar. 

In the heathen temples of old, neither the sybils, 
nor any other priests or fabricators of prophecy, 
male or female, were answerable for the oracles 
and dark sayings which they uttered. They had 
what they said from a god, who never once contra- 
dicted them ! It was impossible to come at him 
for personal information, and was a very profane 
crime not to believe his priest. You had nothing to 
do but to subdue your reason to your faith, and 
swallow the verbum sacerdotis. If you did not, 
the judgment of the god, i. e. the anger of his 
priest, was sure to pursue you. 

The same policy has been ever practised by the 
deluders of mankind, in all names and shapes. They 
have always intrenched themselves behind the ram- 
parts of mystery, uncertainties, and terrors. The 
Romish clergy maintain all their pretensions and 
power by doctrines which are calculated to make 
the people either wonder or tremble. When a man 
has lost his courage and his understanding, he may 
easily be cheated or terrified into as tractable an 
animal as the creation affords. The doctrines of 
purgatory, and the power of the priests to forgive 
or damn, are alone strong enough to frighten most 
men into what liberality and submission the church 
thinks fit to demand of them ; and we all know 
that she is not over-modest upon such occasions. 



270 A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 

" Bring me all that thou hast, and follow me" is her 
style of speaking. 

I wish we could keep these impostures and wild 
claims altogether out of England, and confine them 
to popish and infidel countries. But that which is 
obvious and avowed cannot be hidden. Many of our 
high clergy aim at dominion by the same wicked 
means, and hood- wink and alarm us all that they 
can. They lead us out of the road of reason, and play 
their engines in the dark ; and all the illumination 
we can get from them is, that we are all in a mist. 
Without their guidance we go astray, and with it 
we go blindfold. All their arguments are fetched 
from their own authority. Their assertions are no 
less than rules and laws to us, and where they lead 
we must follow, though into darkness and servi- 
tude. If we grow wilful, and break loose from our 
orthodox ignorance, we are pursued with hard 
names and curses. Doubting is infidelity ; reason 
is atheism. What can we do in this case ? There 
is no medium between a blockhead and a schisma- 
tic. If we follow them blindly, we are the first ; 
the second, if we leave them. We want faith if we 
will not take their word ; if we do so, we want un- 
derstanding. They, indeed, give us a sweetmeat, 
and refer us to the Bible for proof of all that they 
say. But, in truth, this privilege, if we examine 
it, will be found none at all, but, on the contrary, a 
gross absurdity; for when they have sent us to a 
text, will they allow us to construe it in our own 



A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 271 

way? No ! they have fixed a meaning to it, and 
will permit it to bear no other. You may read, 
provided you read with their spectacles ; and examine 
their propositions freely, provided you take them 
every one for granted. You may exert your reason 
to its full extent, but be sure it must be to no pur- 
pose ; you may use your understanding independent- 
ly, under their absolute direction and control. How 
astonishing that these men should have the impu- 
dence to impugn the church of Rome for locking 
up the Bible in an unknown tongue ! 

The continual war which the clergy wage 
against reason, which they use just as they do 
scripture, is founded upon good policy ; but it is 
amusing to observe their manner of attacking it. 
They reason against reason; use reason against the 
use of reason ; and shew, from very good reason, 
that reason is good for nothing. When they think 
it on their own side, then they apply all its aids to 
convince or confound those who dare to think with- 
out their concurrence ; and therefore, in their con- 
troversies about religion, they frequently appeal to 
reason. But we must not accept the appeal, for if 
our reason be not their reason, it is no reason at all. 
They use it, or the appearance of it, against all 
men ; but no man must use it against them. But 
as there is no such thing as arguing and per- 
suading without the aid of reason, it is a little ab- 
surd, if not ungrateful, in these gentlemen, to 
decry it, at the same time that they are employing 



272 A GENERAL IDEA OF PRIESTCRAFT. 

it ; to turn the batteries of reason against reason, 
and make it destroy itself. 

Neither scripture, therefore, nor reason, by these 
rules, signify any thing till the clergy have ex- 
plained them, and made them signify something. 
The word of God is not the word of God, till 
they have declared its sense, and made it genuine. 

From what has been observed, the following 
conclusions may be fairly drawn. Such clergymen 
as I have been describing, prove every thing by 
asserting it, and make any pretence support any 
claim. They build systems upon pretended facts, 
and argue from propositions which are either highly 
improbable, or certainly false. When they cannot 
convince, they confound ; when they cannot per- 
suade, they terrify. "We have but two ways to try 
the truth of their doctrines, and the validity of their 
demands, viz. by reason and revelation; and they 
would deprive us of both, by making the one dark, 
and the other dangerous ! 



273 



GHAP. XXV. 



THE POWER OF EDUCATION IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 

How far the force of example influences nature, 
and enlarges or restrains the human passions and 
appetites, is evident to all who compare different 
nations, and the several ranks of men in the same 
nation. Custom, which is a continued succession 
of examples, warps the understanding, and, as it 
is observed or neglected, becomes the standard of 
wisdom or folly. Men cannot bear to see what 
they themselves reverence, ridiculed by others ; nor 
what they ridicule, reverenced by others. It is a 
common thing to educate men in a veneration for 
one sort of folly, and in a contempt of another, not 
worse, nor so bad ; in a high esteem for one kind 
of science, and in aversion to another full as good ; 
to love some men because they have good names, 
and to hate others for their best qualities ; to adore 
some objects for a bad reason, and to detest others 
against all reason. 

In Turkey, they have as good natural understand- 



274 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 

ing as other people, and yet, by their education, they 
are taught to believe, that there is a sort of divinity 
in the utter absence of all understanding. They 
esteem idiots and lunatics as prophets. They think 
their raving to be celestial, because it is nonsense ; 
and their stupidity instructive, because unintelli- 
gible. If, upon the article of religion, you offer or 
expect common sense, they revile you, and knock 
you on the head; but if you be a natural fool, 
your words are oracles, and phrensy is saintship ! 

A papist laughs and shakes his head at this reli- 
gious aottishness and fury on the Turks, but burns 
you if you laugh at him for doing the same things. 
There were never greater sots or madmen than 
many of the Roman saints ; nor are they the less 
worshipped for that, but the more. As they were 
enthusiasts in proportion to their lunacy, they are 
adored in proportion to their folly. St. Francis, 
for instances, was an errant changeling; St. Antony 
was distracted ; yet who is of more consequence in 
the Roman breviaries than these two saints ? They 
are daily invoked by many devout Catholics, who 
never earnestly prayed to God in their lives. 

That all this wild and astonishing bigotry is the 
pure effect of example, or of education, which is 
the same thing (being only some men setting ex- 
amples to other men) , may be learnt from hence, 
that no man bred without superstition, any par- 
ticular form of it, can rarely ever be brought into 
the vanities of a strange devotion at once. People 



IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 275 

must be seasoned in it by time, by steps, and by 
reiterations. After certain periods in life, examples 
come too late, or with small force. It is a saying of 
the amiable Jay, of Bath, that there are two things 
equally difficult, "to raise a dead man, and to con- 
vince an old one." A grown Spaniard can hardly ever 
become a Frenchman, or a Frenchman a Spaniard. 
We see men who will fight and die for certain prac- 
tices and opinions, and even for follies and fopperies, 
which, had they been bred to, others they would have 
despised, and perhaps have died for such as they 
now despise. 

It is plain from the accounts given by the 
missionaries, of the progress which they make 
in converting the natives of the East and West 
Indies, that their proselytes are very few, and 
those few fickle, not half made, and luke-warm ; 
still fond of their old superstitions, and, upon 
every terror or temptation, ready to revolt to 
paganism, which they had scarcely forsaken. I 
believe this is almost universally true of the 
elder sort. I doubt not but they are almost all 
like father Hennepin's old woman, who, when 
all other arguments were unconvincing, yielded to 
be baptized for a pipe of tobacco, and having 
smoked it, offered to be baptized again for another. 
It is certain that the Chinese converted the Jesuits, 
who, at least, dgilly met these obstinate heathens 
half way, and went roundly into paganism, to 
make the Pagans good Catholics, — a union not 

t 2 



276 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 

unnatural, though it is to be lamented, that the 
peaceable heathenism of Confucius should be 
polluted by the barbarous spirit of popery, 
which has not only, from the beginning, adopted 
the ancient gentile idolatry, but disgraced it by 
added cruelty. 

I am satisfied that Dr. Blomfield, the present Bi- 
shop of London, is a very sincere and keen church- 
man ; but I am equally satisfied, that, had he been 
educated in the Mosaic law, he would have been 
as fierce a Jew ; or, bred at Athens, in the days of 
Socrates, as clamorous as the rest of the rabble 
against that wise and moderate man, who was 
most certainly a heretic as to the doctrine and 
discipline of the Athenian priests. If in this con- 
jecture I have offended the Doctor, who, they 
say, is a man of warm spirit, I will give him com- 
petent revenge, by declaring my equal belief that 
many a stern Calvinist, zealous in his way, would, 
with different breeding, have been as zealous an 
Arminian. I could wish that, from this conside- 
ration, both sorts would learn to bear with one 
another, and with all men ; that at least they 
would be as angry at Mahomet as at any one of 
our dissenting preachers, and learn not to attack 
heresy through the sides of charity. But, in this 
very thing, the force of example, of which I am 
writing, is against me. 

By this force, men may be brought to renounce 
every glimmering of common sense, every impulse 



IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 277 

of piety, and be transported with every degree of 
madness and inhumanity. In many countries, the 
death of a snake will cost you your life ; and those 
people who would murder a man and eat him, 
would tremble at the thought of hurting a serpent, 
for which pernicious reptile they have a religious 
regard. The unnatural mercy which superstition 
teaches them is the only mercy that they have, and 
is exercised upon a creature that is a known enemy 
to human life. 

The Iroquois, not satisfied with putting their 
enemies to death in coldblood,burn them alive, after 
other tortures, cut off pieces of their raw flesh, and 
eat them, and give the children the blood to drink, 
to season their young minds with the like sangui- 
nary spirit. Thus the cruelty is continued by 
example from father to son, and grows natural 
by habit. Their enemies serve them the same 
way ; but this consideration reclaims neither. It 
is heroism to be barbarous, and the fiercest can- 
nibal is the bravest warrior. Yet these savages, in 
their own clans, may be copied by the Christian 
world ; they are merciful and good natured to one 
another, and they live together in remarkable inno- 
cence, simplicity, and union. 

American nations, who thus destroy one another, 
are very thin of population ; there is more than terri- 
tory enough for them all ; nor is husbandry any of 
their arts. There are woods large enough for many 
more to hunt in, and rivers for many more to fish in. 



278 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 

The inhabitants live from hand to mouth, and 
though they do not much regard property, yet 
inveterate quarrels are handed down from ge- 
neration to generation, and daily inflamed, which 
perpetuate their mutual ferocity and rage. 
They often watch many days, in hunger and 
cold, to circumvent their enemies, though nothing 
is to be expected at last but blood lost or 
obtained ; but blood, on whatever side shed, is 
glory. 

In some parts of Peru this savageness is still 
improved. Their chief ambition in war is to make 
women captives. These they make their slaves in 
a strange way. They breed from them, and eat the 
children so bred at the age of ten or twelve years, 
having first well fatted them. The women, when 
they can breed no longer, are eaten also. Among 
these people the sense of shame seems entirely ex- 
tinguished, or rather never known. Their prosti- 
tutions, natural and unnatural, are as public as 
their eating and drinking. Some of them account 
virginity a great blemish, and the young women 
must be beholden to their friends and relations to 
get rid of it before they can get husbands. Their 
women ran openly after the Spaniards, in all the 
transports of female rage, begging the gratifications 
of gallantry. But what is still most monstrous 
and incredible, there are, of those people, who 
have public temples for the practice of sodomy, as 
an act of religion ; for, with all these abomina- 



IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 279 

tions, they have a religion, which is part of them ; — 
and here we see into what excesses mistakes in 
religion can run. They believe the immortality 
of the soul ; they have offices for the dead ; they 
worship the sun ; they believe in a Creator of all 
things ; they offer sacrifices to their idols, and 
sometimes human sacrifices. Will any of our 
casuists say, that it were not better they had no 
religion, than one that teaches them such hideous 
crimes and barbarities ? I wish that these brutal 
heathens were the only instances where reason 
and humanity are made victims to religion. But 
customs of religion and honour, right or 
wrong, as both are commonly vilely mistaken 
and abused, are apt to take an inveterate hold 
of the human soul, and to master every natural 
faculty. 

It would be a hard, if not an impossible thing, 
to convert these Peruvian savages. There is no 
weaning them from their horrible but delicious 
banquets of human flesh, alive or dead ; and 
while they themselves have such a relish of man's 
blood, they will always think it acceptable to the 
gods. Men every where imagine that the Deity 
loves and hates just as they do ; and their com- 
mon way of going to God is to bring God to 
them. 

It is as easy to bring an Englishman into the 
way and life of a Hottentot, or Greenlander, as to 
bring them into his. Both are impossible. The 



280 THE POWER OF EDUCATION 

Hottentot is filthy and naked, and lives or starves 
upon filth ; the Greenlander lives in piercing and 
inhospitable regions of snow, in a country made 
desolate by nature, where no comfortable thing 
appears, but all covered with darkness or the rage 
of the elements ; yet both these miserable barba- 
rians — miserable, at least, in our eyes — are invete- 
rately fond of their own cares and miseries ; 
nor could all the delicacies and allurements of 
Europe ever reclaim one of them. Their cap- 
tivity in the midst of plenty, conveniencies, and 
kind usage, either broke their hearts, or at- 
tached them more violently to their own more 
amiable barbarity, indigence, and garbage, when 
they returned. 

What shall we say to all the strange propensi- 
ties of mankind — strange, but natural ? They are 
the effects of education, habit, and prepossession, 
from which no man is wholly free, and by which 
almost all men are wholly governed. I have seen 
them strongly marked in servants and persons of 
inferior birth, who were exclusively attached to 
the society and habits of those whose education 
and character were low and grovelling like their 
own. From all this, let us learn a lesson of mu- 
tual forbearance; let us throw off those prejudices 
of education which prevent the growth of our in- 
tellectual powers, and interrupt us in our moral 
and spiritual course. Let us no longer be fettered 
with the bonds of priestly intolerance, nor follow 



IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. 281 

the biblical interpretations of an interested priest- 
hood. Let us rather learn wisdom from the 
wickedness and folly of past ages, and earnestly 
look up to God alone for the teachings of his 
Holy Spirit, knowing that our redemption draweth 
nigh. 



282 



CHAP. XXVI. 



MUTUAL BITTERNESS AND PERSECUTION AMONG CHRISTIANS, 
REPUGNANT TO THE DOCTRINES OF CHRIST, AND DETESTABLE 
TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 



Reason is not the only thing in which men exceed 
brutes ; their passions, as well as their reason, are 
stronger than those of the dumb creation, and 
prompt them to commit more abominable things. 
To qualify and restrain those passions is the busi- 
ness of religion ; and when it has contrary effects, 
it is either a bad religion, or they are very bad men 
who profess it. By this rule all men may know 
what sort of Christians they are: — " Except ye 
love one another," says our Saviour, " you cannot 
be my disciples." How different is this from the 
style of many who call themselves his successors ! 
— Unless you hate, kill, and destroy one another, 
you cannot be our followers, say they ! 

The only end of Christianity, as to this life, was 
to teach men peace, charity, mutual forbearance, 
and the forgiveness of injuries. This was the 
" new commandment," which Jesus Christ gave 



M 



UTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 283 



to his apostles, and to all Christians. How ill it 
has been observed ; or rather, how impiously it 
has been violated ! Let those whose duty it is 
more especially to see it obeyed, consider whether 
they have not inflamed, instead of calmed, the 
natural heat and foolish passions of men? and 
whether, far from instructing them to forgive inju- 
ries, they have not taught them never to forgive 
things which were no injuries, viz. the opinions of 
one another ? 

If a man halt in his understanding, how is any 
one injured by his intellectual lameness, more than 
by the lameness of his limbs ? If his opinions be 
crooked and wild, what offence is that to another 
more than if he squinted, or had a wild look? 
Error is an infirmity of the mind, as pain, halting, 
and crookedness are of the body ; and why should 
internal, any more than external defects, pro- 
voke any rational man ? Would not he who went 
about to persecute or invent penalties for crooked- 
ness, be looked upon as a monster equally cruel 
with those savages who drown all their innocent 
new-born babes whose make does not please their 
eye ? And is not hating, hurting, or killing, for the 
natural or habitual weaknesses of the soul, equally 
monstrous and savage ? What is it to any man 
what I think of colour, and whether I like or dislike 
white or black ; : — or what sentiments, which are the 
colours of the mind, fit mine best; — or what actions 
or gestures they produce in me, provided my ac- 



284 MUTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 

tions and gestures hurt not him ? Does he, by 
hating or distressing me, fulfil our Saviour's com- 
mandment of loving one another ? Are his own 
notions right ? Let him enjoy them, — he is happy. 
Are my notions wrong ? I am unhappy ; why does 
he persecute me ? Perhaps fortune has been 
kinder to him than to me, and he is richer and 
handsomer. "Why does he not chastise me for this 
fault, too, for I cannot force fortune more than na- 
ture ? The truth is, none persecute but the worst, 
the most ignorant, or the most barbarous men. By 
this mark we know a Nero from an Antoninus, 
and a fatherly pastor from a bloody inquisitor. 

The perverting of no one thing upon earth is so 
bad, and so sinful, as the perverting of Christianity, 
because Christianity is the best thing upon earth. 
He, therefore, who makes use of Christianity to 
raise heats, feuds, and hatred among men, is a 
much worse man than he, who, having no Chris- 
tianity, can make no ill use of that which he does 
not use at all. It is like turning the best medicine 
into poison ; and a physician who does so, is worse 
than a peasant who knows not the nature and use 
of physic. It is a strange and astonishing thing to 
see a man in a rage, with the New Testament open 
before him, justifying his rage out of the Scrip- 
tures, and raising in his hearers, from thence, a 
cruel and angry spirit like his own. And yet such 
sights are far from being rare. I have frequently 
heard a text from the holy and peaceful gospel 



DETESTABLE TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 285 

quoted and explained to rouse all the most bar- 
barous and unsocial passions, and to authorize all the 
worst and most inhuman effects of those passions. 
This has been confidently called preaching the 
gospel; and this herald of wrath, a preacher of the 
gospel, and his raging hearers, a religious assembly. 

I have sometimes fancied to myself, what a 
sensible Chinese would think of the gospel upon 
reading it ; in what manner he would conceive it 
must be preached, and what consequences he 
would expect from that preaching. — " Here," he 
would say, "is the most benevolent system that 
ever appeared in the world ; a system contrived 
to root out the roughness, malignity, and selfish- 
ness of human nature, to extinguish or restrain 
all its sour passions, to destroy, for ever, all the 
seeds of strife, anger, and war, and to make all 
men friends. Happy are they who receive this 
system ! Most happy they among whom it is con- 
tinually preached and inculcated ! Here is no pre- 
tence for divisions, at least for quarrelling about 
them. Here all the pomp and tyranny, affected by 
men over men, are expressly forbidden ; and love, 
even to our enemies, is strictly enjoined. This is 
admirable ! Without doubt, it is from God. The 
Divine Being, in pity to the ill-natured, jarring, 
and tempestuous world, has here offered them a 
divine calm, and restored them to a state of per- 
fection and innocence, by giving them these celes- 
tial rules for bearing and forbearing all manner of 



286 MUTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 

evils. Would I could be a witness of the happy 
state of Christendom !" 

I have fancied this same Chinese to be in Christen- 
dom; and first in Rome, the centre of Christendom, 
the residence of his Holiness, and the seat of all 
abominations, poisonings, assassinations, unnatural 
lust, pride, ambition, divisions, tyranny, luxury, 
poverty, and oppression. There he sees an old 
friar, who calls himself the vicar of the meek Jesus, 
covered with all the ensigns of savage tyranny, 
supporting his monstrous and motley domination 
with dark intrigues and every pious and worldly 
fraud ; holding his own subjects under severe fet- 
ters and famine ; scattering, every where, firebrands 
and the spirit of slaughter and war amongst Chris- 
tians ; animating sovereigns against their people, 
the people against their sovereigns ; and giving 
his apostolic benediction to human rage and malice. 

The Chinese asks if his Holiness be a Christian 
according to the gospel ? Yes, he is answered ; he 
is what he is from the gospel, and all that he does 
is from it. The Chinese blesses himself, and the 
more Christian spirit of good old Confucius. He 
is just ready to return to China, to a happier peo- 
ple, and more virtuous paganism, but meets with 
a Protestant, who tells him, thatall the wickedness 
which he finds at Rome, is the abuse of religion, and 
the natural effects of the pope's lying pretentions 
and usurpations, and begs him to visit protestant 
countries, which abhor the pope, and all his doings. 



DETESTABLE TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 287 

The Chinese, ravished to hear that the gospel 
does not fare every where alike, and in hopes of 
beholding societies of men who are Christians ac- 
cording to the gospel, travels through part of the 
empire, where he finds Lutherans and Calvinists, 
headed by their guides, at mortal enmity. They 
both believe the gospel, but rail at one another out 
of it, hate one another for it, and are only re- 
strained by their princes from contending, even to 
blood, about words which are not in it. In Den- 
mark and Sweden he finds the Lutherans still 
fiercer, and suffering no sort nor name of Chris- 
tianity among them but their own, and treating all 
others with the highest pitch of fury and ig- 
norance. 

The Chinese, who thinks the Lutheran popes as 
little justifiable as the Romish popes, since they alike 
set up for spiritual dominion, which the gospel 
gives to no man upon earth, once more praises 
old Confucius ; and, resolved to find, if he can, the 
spirit of Christianity in some Christian country, 
sails away for Great Britain, and lands in Scot- 
land. There he beholds a rigid gravity in the 
countenance of the Kirk ; she affects great sanc- 
tity, has an eminent conceit of her own righteous- 
ness, but finds righteousness nowhere else ; she 
has a very strong stomach for dominion, but 
sweetens it with a soft name, and calls it dis- 
cipline, which she exercises with little tender- 
ness upon such as offend or gainsay her ; and 



288 MUTUAL BITTERNESS &C. 

towards all other churches and opinions, her 
looks are sour and unforgiving. She talks much 
of the Lord, and contends that nothing is to 
be done, by any man, without God's grace moving 
in him, and assisting him, which is in no man's 
power. But, for all that, if you want that grace, 
of which she is judge, or if you do not derive it 
from her, and submit implicitly to her, though she 
be not the giver of grace, you will find that she 
asserts a claim, as well as his Holiness, to chastise 
wrong faith and obstinacy, as Mr. Fletcher, of Moor- 
fields, can assert. For though the pope, being the 
man of sin, has no such right, yet she, who is the 
daughter of Zion, is entitled to it. 

The Chinese cries, that here is much loud and 
warm zeal, very long prayers, a world of bitterness, 
but no charity. In England, says he, there is 
more knowledge and freedom ; I will try Eng- 
land. He finds here great liberty of conscience, 
and rejoices in it ; but he sees those who 
should be most for it, most implacable against it. 
He sees churchmen nobly provided for, but many 
of them not satisfied ; on the contrary, claiming 
ten times more, and blindly supporting those claims 
by the gospel, and by the example of cheating and 
usurping popish monks. He sees them railing at 
private conscience, damning all who exercise it, and 
calling for the temporal sword to destroy them. 
Here he finds archbishops, bishops, archdeacons, 
deans and chapters, and chancellors, — all fattening 



DETESTABLE TO A RATIONAL PAGAN. 289 

in dignities and honours, violent in politics, and 
jobbers in secular and state affairs. He sees many 
of the Dissenters, who, after much suffering, enjoy 
a precious liberty, setting up the same antichris- 
tian spiritual domination, as that against which 
they have protested ; and taking, as far as they 
can do so, the blessing and protection of the law 
of mercy from one another. 

The Chinese, therefore, sees and applauds the 
wisdom, gentleness, and Christian spirit of the 
Legislature which restrains the irrascibility of 
these professing Christians. He finds the chief 
human security for the gospel to be in an Act of 
parliament, which gives to every man the privilege 
to read, understand, and apply the Scriptures in 
his own way. " This," says he, " is Christianity 
according to the gospel, which, I find by observa- 
tion, can only subsist where all sorts of consciences, 
the strong and the weak, are equally protected ; 
where no sort of power is exercised over the mind, 
and where every man is left to understand and 
interpret with security the words of Christ and of 
Paul, as he judges Christ and Paul meant them. 
No two things — not heaven and hell, or good and 
evil — are more opposite than force and faith. The 
one is only from the wise and beneficent Creator ; 
the other from the worst passions of the worst of 



u 



290 



CHAP. XXVII. 



AN INQUIRY INTO RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 

So various and contradictory are the opinions and 
reasonings of men, that no voluntary society or 
assembly can long act or hold together, but by 
establishing certain rules and orders among them- 
selves, regarding the common interests and conduct 
of the society, and appointing persons whose duty 
it shall be to see those orders put into execution. 
If any member does not think it lawful or ex- 
pedient to submit to the public regulations, they 
must have a right to exclude him ; or, in other 
words, to excommunicate him from their body, if 
he do not choose to separate himself. 

If the design of the society be to worship God, 
to join in the same prayers, and to exhort and edify 
each other, which assembly is called a Church, 
there must be time and place appointed, when and 
where they are to meet, and also persons to prepare 
and keep in order all things necessary for their 
meeting. There must be one or more appointed 



INQUIRY INTO RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 291 

to read those prayers to the congregation in which 
they are to join, and to do all those offices which 
can be performed only by single persons ; and if 
the society would avoid the loquacity and inter- 
ruption of ignorant and conceited members, they 
must confine exhortation to one, or to a few 
persons, of approved gravity and wisdom. There 
must also be some means of conferring and agree- 
ing together, to support the common expenses of 
building, repairs, utensils, and so on ; and, con- 
sequently, there must be debates, which cannot be 
well carried on without a president, chairman, or 
prolocutor, to regulate them, collect their voices, 
and pronounce their resolutions. Without these 
precautions, the members will be more likely to 
fight than to pray. 

If several of these churches, residing at too great 
a distance from one another to meet together, 
should esteem it their duty or advantage to join 
in the same form of worship, and unite in a com- 
mon interest to support it, they must find out 
some means of communication, and contrive some 
cement of their union ; otherwise they would again 
soon separate. This may be done by choosing 
deputies to represent them, and to concert common 
measures ; or by submitting themselves to the con- 
duct and determinations of one or more persons, 
chosen by common consent, in all such matters as 
do not interfere with their duty^ to God. The 
persons so chosen can have no more power, nor 

u 2 



292 AN INQUIRY INTO 

for a longer duration, than their principals think fit 
to give them. 

If such churches should think it their duty or inte- 
rest to enlarge their foundation, and make converts, 
they cannot take a more effectual method to do 
so, than to choose, appoint, or ordain discreet and 
honest men, who are acquainted with their way 
of worship, their ordinances, and the reasons 
of them ; and send them forth to teach, persuade, 
and convince others ; to exhort them with meekness 
and love, and afterwards to preside and watch over 
them, for preventing their straying and apostatizing. 

This was the case at the commencement of 
Christianity, before national churches were esta- 
blished; as it is also the present case of independent 
voluntary societies. The apostles' commission was, 
to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 
every creature. This was impossible for them to do 
in their own persons, and, therefore, as they made 
converts, they exhorted them to convert others, 
as may be seen in Acts viii. 1, 4. When the 
apostles were left at Jerusalem, the church was 
scattered abroad throughout all Judea and Samaria, 
and those who were scattered abroad preached the 
word ; see Acts xi. 13, 14. They who were scat- 
tered abroad upon the persecution which arose 
about Stephen, travelled as far as Phcenice and 
Cyprus, and preached the word to none but the 
Jews only ; and some of them, when they were 
come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preach- 



RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 293 

ing the Lord Jesus Christ. From chap. iv. ver. 4. 
we find that Peter and John converted five thousand, 
They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
spake the word of God with boldness, ver. 31. 

The apostles were enabled to , prove their mis- 
sion by having the power of working miracles ; for 
we read, Mark xvi. 17, 18, that these signs were 
to follow those who believed in Christ's name. 
They could cast out devils ; they could speak with 
new tongues ; they could take up serpents ; no 
deadly thing could hurt them ; they could lay 
their hands on the sick, and recover them. In John, 
chap. xiv. ver. 12, our Saviour says to his disciples, 
"Whosoever believeth in me, the works that I do 
shall he do, and greater than these shall he do 
also ;" which gifts would have been unnecessary, 
if they were to have made no use of them. By 
virtue of those general powers, given to all Chris- 
tians, Philip and Stephen — who were chosen by 
the congregation to the menial office of serving 
tables — preached, baptized, and did many wonders 
and miracles, as maybe seen, in Acts, chap. vi. ver. 
8, and chap. viii. ver. 7. 

But besides the common right which every man 
had to preach Christ, and propagate his kingdom, 
the apostle prevailed upon particular persons to 
undertake it, and make it their business. These were 
to assist and oversee the brethren, as a shepherd 
does his sheep. Having the gift of discerning 
spirits, they knew who were best fitted for the same 



294 AN INQUIRY INTO 

employment, and who would engage in it with- 
out sinister views. But it is plain, they conferred 
no gifts or advantages above other Christians. 
They could not give the Holy Ghost, which power 
was confined to the apostles, and, as far as ap- 
pears, was bestowed, without distinction, upon 
all who believed and were baptized. The power 
of speaking with tongues, was given to all 
believers ; which appears to be, in scripture, one 
constant and inseparable mark of having received 
the Holy Ghost. 

In Acts ii. ver. 4, it is said, " The Holy Ghost 
fell on the apostles, and they spake with tongues." 
In Acts x. ver. 46, " While Peter spoke, the Holy 
Ghost fell on all who heard the word, and the 
Jews were astonished when they heard the Gen- 
tiles speak with tongues." Chap. xix. ver. 6, 
" Paul laid his hands on certain disciples, and the 
Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with 
tongues, and prophesied. " Acts xi. ver. 35, Peter 
justifying himself to the Jews for preaching to 
the Gentiles, says, "And as I began to speak, 
the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the 
beginning. Then remembered I the word of the 
Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized 
with water, but ye shall be baptized with the 
Holy Ghost ; forasmuch, therefore, as God gave 
them {viz. those who believed) the like gift as he 
did to us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
what was I, that I should withstand God ?" We 



RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS, 295 

learn here, from the mouth of Peter himself, that 
the Gentiles, who believed, had the same gift as 
the apostles. Chap. viii. ver. 14, " When the 
apostles at Jerusalem had heard that the Sama- 
ritans had received the Holy Ghost, which they 
had not received before, though they were bap- 
tized by Philip.'' In chap. ii. ver. 38, Peter says 
to them of Israel, " Repent, and be baptized, every 
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the Holy 
Ghost;" and ver. 41, "They gladly received the 
word, and the same day were added to them three 
thousand souls," who must have all, consequently, 
received the Holy Ghost. In chap. viii. ver. 8, 9, 
Paul, speaking of the Gentiles, says, " God, which 
knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving 
them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us, and 
put no difference between them and us, purifying 
their hearts by faith." 

It appears plain, that all who believed, espe- 
cially through the apostles' ministration, received 
the Holy Ghost, and could perform miracles ; and, 
consequently, the persons before mentioned, by 
whatever names they are called, were not designed 
to be an order of men distinct from other Chris- 
tians, with different powers and privileges. They 
received a burden, not a sinecure. They were 
better and poorer than other people, not their 
lords and masters ; nor is there a word in scrip- 



296 AN INQUIRY INTO 

ture, from which we can imagine that they were 
intended to be successors to the apostles, much 
less that the successorship was to continue to 
the end of the world. It is evident, indeed, that 
there were no such successors appointed, because 
the power of giving the Holy Ghost, and, in conse- 
quence, of performing miracles, soon ceased in the 
church. With this in view, let us examine the 
Acts and the Epistles. 

Acts xiv. ver. 23, Paul and Barnabas ordained 
elders in every city; and chap. xx. ver. 17, Paul 
calls the elders of the Church of Ephesus together; 
and ver. 28, tells them their duty — "Take heed 
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over 
the which the Holy Ghost hath made you over- 
seers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath 
purchased with his own blood." Here, indeed, the 
word, l7r«rxoW/5-, is translated overseers, and not 
bishops, because it is explained in the text, to 
import no more than to feed the Church of God, 
i. e. to assist them, to preach to them, to exhort 
them, to advise them, and to give them good 
examples. But all this implies no jurisdiction ; nor 
had the apostles any to give. 

Ephesians, chap. iv. ver. 7, 11, " Unto every one 
is given grace, according to the measure of the gift 
of Christ. And he gave some, apostles ; and some, 
prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and some, pas- 
tors and teachers." And in the next verse he tells 



RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 297 

us for what purpose, viz. " for the perfecting the 
saints (i. e. all the faithful), for the work of the 
ministry, and for the edifying the body of Christ." 

Romans, chap. x. ver. 14, 15, " How then shall 
they call upon him, in whom they have not 
believed? And how shall they believe in him, of 
whom they have not heard ? And how shall they 
hear without a preacher? And how shall they 
preach unless they be sent?" This relates plainly 
to the teaching of the apostles, who were sent to 
preach the gospel to the unconverted world, that 
otherwise could have known nothing of it ; and 
possibly in a larger sense it may be extended to all 
Christians, who had the power, as well as the 
means, to preach the gospel, and consequently 
might be said to be sent to do it. But I should be 
glad to know, by what skill it has been discovered, 
or how it came to be guessed at, that the clergy of 
the many nations in Europe, as by law established, 
were the persons meant ; or, if only one kind of 
them, which kind that one is ; when it is plain that 
they have no other means of knowing Christ than 
the laity have, and, for the most part, can tell them 
no more than they knew before. 

Hebrews, chap. xiii. ver. 7, " Remember them 
which have the rule over you, who have spoken 
unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, 
considering the end of their conversation ;" and, 
ver. 17, "Obey" (by others translated, "be per- 
suaded by") them that have the rule over you, and 



298 AN INQUIRY INTO 

submit yourselves ; for they watch for your souls, 
as those who must give account." Here, it seems, 
the editors of our English Bible did not think proper 
to stand to their translation ; for in the margin, 
against the words, " rule over you," in both verses, 
they have inserted the word guides, which does not 
give us altogether so frightful an image. 

The word translated obey in the last verse, is ex- 
plained by the word remember in the first ; and the 
reason given in the one is, because you are to con- 
sider the end of their conversation ; and in the other, 
because they watch for your souls. So that the 
Hebrews were exhorted to remember, hearken to, 
or be persuaded by, their guides, who had spoken 
to them the word of God, which was the end of 
their conversation, and who watched for their souls. 
I think all good Christians ought to continue to do 
so, i. e. as soon as they know where to find them, 
and the clergy have agreed among themselves w T ho 
they are. 

At the latter end of the second Epistle to Timothy, 
in our edition of the Bible, he is said to be the first 
bishop of Ephesus,* by which, we are to under- 
stand, if we please, that he was in possession of 
the authority and dignity of a modern prelate ; but 
the text says no such thing. Indeed, Paul's first 
Epistle, chap. i. ver. 11, says that the glorious 
gospel of Christ was committed to his trust, i. e. 
he was entrusted to preach it. And, ver. 18, he 

* See the beginning of the seventh chapter of this work. 



RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 299 

commits the same charge to Timothy; but in chap, 
iv. ver. 12, 13, he tells him what he is to do; — he is 
to be an example to the believers in word, in con- 
versation, in charity, in faith, in purity ; and till 
he comes himself, he is to give attendance to read- 
ing, to exhortation, and to doctrine. The rest of 
the epistle is employed in telling him what doctrine 
he is to preach. 

In his second Epistle, Paul says unto him, " and 
the things thou hast heard from me amongst many 
witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, 
who shall be able to teach others also ;" which he 
expresses summarily before, in these words, " lay 
hands suddenly on no man," a ceremony always 
used among the Jews, to denote a person appointed 
for any purpose, as well as on many other occa- 
sions. So that Paul himself knew, by inspiration, 
who was fit for his charge, and Timothy was to 
make good inquiry after faithful men. No power 
is given here, however, but to preach the gospel, 
and to employ others to do it ; which I have shewn 
every one was at liberty to do, though all had not 
an equal call, or were equally qualified for it • and 
therefore it was certainly good advice to endeavour 
to find out such as were, and prevail upon them to 
undertake it. 

In the Epistle to Titus, who, it seems, was another 
bishop, he is directed to set in order the things 
which are wanting, and to ordain elders in every 
city, as Paul had appointed him ; which alludes to 



300 AN INQUIRY INTO 

private directions before given, and proves nothing, 
but that Paul took measures to propagate Christi- 
anity by reducing his converts, in every city, into 
orderly, though voluntary societies, by finding out 
and appointing discreet and honest men to assist 
and superintend the rest. And it cannot be doubted 
but the people who knew him to be inspired, would 
be advised by him, accept his recommendations, and 
be directed by the wisdom of a person so powerfully 
recommended. This respect and deference has 
been always paid by every sect in the world, to their 
first founders, and for the most part, also, to their 
subsequent leaders. 

These are all the texts that I can at present 
remember, which are usually brought to support 
the priestly claims, except such as plainly relate to 
our Saviour himself, or to his apostles. 

But what has all this to do with a formal and 
solemn institution and established form of govern- 
ment ; a political economy ; or, in ecclesiastical 
language and style, a spiritual hierarchy ? What! 
must sovereign and independent power (without 
which, as I have shewn in Chap. VI., there can 
be in this case no power at all) depend upon figu- 
rative expressions, and allusions to seniority of age, 
as elders, to mean and low professions, as guides, 
shepherds, pastors, teachers, overseers, notably 
translated bishops? Or upon the critical know- 
ledge of ancient eastern terms of doubtful and 
disputed significations, which would put it in the 



RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 301 

power of the very few men, said to be skilled in 
the oriental tongues, to settle what establishments 
or religion they please ? 

The prophets and evangelists often speak after 
the manner of eastern nations, which was, for the 
most part, figurative; where, " for ever," " to 
the end of the world," and such like language, was 
frequently used to denote a long space of time. 
General expressions in scripture, therefore, are 
not always to be taken strictly; as, " covetous- 
ness is the root of all evil," — " swear not at all," 
— " children and servants, obey your parents and 
masters in all things," — " take no care for the 
morrow," — " take no thought for your life, what 
you shall eat, what you shall drink, or what 
you shall put on," — " whatsoever ye shall ask the 
Father in my name, he will give it to you," — "sub- 
mit yourselves one to another," — " ye younger, be 
subject to the elder ; yea, be subject to one an- 
other," — and, " there were many other things 
which Jesus did, the which if they should be writ- 
ten, the whole world could not contain the books," 
■ — and more than a hundred others of the same 
kind. When such passages occur, we must con- 
strue them by the rules of eternal righteousness — 
the reason of the thing, and the general tenor of 
scripture ; — and then we cannot mistake their 
meaning, unless it may be in such cases as are 
of no consequence whether we do or not. 

Besides, almost all words vary their meaning by 



302 AN INQUIRY INTO 

time ; and every one, of the least reading, knows 
that there is scarcely a word, except the proper 
names of persons, places, and things, that is an- 
swered by any other in a different language, so as 
to comprehend exactly the same number of ideas. 
Nor is it probable, that any two persons of the 
same nation ever used one such word precisely to 
the same purpose ; if they were asked to give an 
adequate definition of what they meant by it, they 
would differ in some particular. It is, therefore, 
absurd to suppose, that men's duty and eternal 
salvation should depend upon the nic£ signification 
of single Hebrew and Greek wo/ds- — languages 
so long since dead, or out of common use. 

The Almighty is too merciful to his creatures to 
leave them in such uncertainties, which is, in 
effect, to let them throw at chances for their reli- 
gion. When he makes an establishment, and gives 
laws to mankind, he always expresses himself in a 
manner not to be misunderstood. Thus he did in 
the Jewish dispensation, where there was no dis- 
pute about the meaning of the law. 

Though there is nothing in scripture, then, to 
countenance these pretensions of erecting religious 
establishments on civil authority, yet the gospel, 
almost everywhere, forbids them, as I have already 
shewn; as well as clearly proved that the pastors, in 
the first ages of Christianity, were always chosen by 
the people, and lived upon their alms. By what 
means of impiety and forgery they came to be lords 



RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS. 303 

of so great a part of the terrestrial globe, I need 
not repeat. I will only add to what has been said, 
that it is not necessary for any particular religion 
to be incorporated into the constitution of the state. 
Religion and civil government are distinct things. 
Religion may be the support of a civil government, 
and it is the duty of the civil magistrate to protect 
his subjects in the free exercise of their religion ; 
but to incorporate any particular religion into the 
state, and to make it a part of the common law, and 
to oppose or punish those who dissent from it, is to 
tolerate despotism, and support the reign of an- 
tichrist. True religion in the first ages, before 
Constantine, had not, nor required, any such sup- 
port ; nor does it at the present day. I have 
opposed, and always will oppose, any imposition 
upon my conscience, and resist all party distinc- 
tions. The Bible alone is the standard of religious 
truth, and it is opposed to spiritual tyranny and 
oppression. 



304 



CHAP. XXVIII. 



THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 



The present form of episcopal government was 
brought in by antichrist, and has let in all kinds of 
superstitions into the church. It has been the in- 
strument of displacing and removing the most 
conscientious men from the communion of the 
church, whenever they discovered any unwillingness 
to comply with her superstitious inventions and 
ceremonies. Episcopal government has destroyed 
the very life and power of godliness, and supported 
unrighteousness. It has done what it can to bind the 
laity in perpetual slavery, and to tolerate the observ- 
ance of superstitious inventions. Episcopal go- 
vernment, as it now exists, is prejudicial to the civil 
liberty of our country. The doctrine of arbitrary 
power is taught by the members of the church. The 
Protestant religion must always be in danger while 
it is in such hands, nor can there be much hope for 
reformation, either in church or state, while bishops 
have votes in Parliament. The fruit being so bad, 



THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, &C. 305 

the tree must be bad, and the only remedy is, to 
cut it down, as a cumberer of the ground. 

If episcopal government has been the chief im- 
pediment to the reformation and growth of religion, 
it ought to be taken away. It is, in fact, so rotten 
in the foundation, that if we pull it not down, it will 
ultimately fall upon those who are propping it up. 

It would be a waste of time to give a historical 
account of the infamous character of bishops, in the 
times of popery, from Cyprian to Pius X. or to De 
Domus ; of their treasonable and rebellious conduct 
towards their sovereigns ; of their antipathy to the 
laws and liberties of their country ; of their igno- 
rance, pride, and attachment to the pomp of this 
world ; of their neglect of their spiritual functions ; 
and of their enmity to all methods of reformation, 
to the present day. I dare not ask in what parti- 
cular our Protestant bishops excel. 

It has been ignorantly asserted that episcopal 
government is of divine right. This is contrary to 
the statute 37. of Henry VIII., chap. 17, which 
says, that bishops have their episcopal authority, 
and all other ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatever, 
solely and only by, from, and under, the king. To 
argue that the crown is dependent upon episcopacy 
must appear extremely ridiculous to any man of 
common reading, who knows that the kings of 
England were long before bishops, and may readily 
depose them. 

It has been said, that episcopacy is a third estate 



306 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 

in the government ; but this I deny, for the three 
estates are, the king, the lords temporal, and the 
commons. Kings of England have held several 
Parliaments without bishops. King Edward I., in 
the 24th of his reign, held a Parliament excluso clero ; 
and in the Parliament of 7th Richard II. there is 
mention made of the consent of the lords temporal 
and the commons, but not a word of the clergy. 
The hierarchy, therefore, is but a mere human in- 
stitution, and, even as such, has not always existed 
in this country. 

The baronies of bishops are merely of the king's 
favour, and began in this kingdom in the 4th of 
William the Conqueror, by virtue of which they have 
had place in the House of Peers in Parliament ; but 
in the 7th Henry VIII.,* it was resolved, by all 
the judges of England, that the king may hold his 
Parliament by himself, his temporal lords and 
commons, without any bishop ; for a bishop has 
not any place in Parliament by reason of his spi- 
rituality, but merely by reason of his barony. 
Accordingly, Acts of Parliament have been made 
without bishops, as 2nd Richard II., chap. 3, and at 
other times : nor were they ever called spiritual 
lords in our statutes, till 16th Richard II., chap. 1. 
But to enter upon the subject more at large : — 
The spiritual powers of a bishop are those usurped 
powers which raise him above the order of a pres- 

* 1846, Ket. 



NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 307 

byter. And here may be considered, first, his 
authority over presbyters by the oath of canonical 
obedience, by which he may command them to 
collect tenths granted in convocation, according to 
20th Henry VI., chap. 19; secondly, his office, 
which is partly judicial and partly ministerial ; by 
the former, he judges, in his courts, of all matters 
ecclesiastical and spiritual within his diocese, and 
of the fitness of such as are presented to him, to be 
instituted into benefices ; by the latter, he is dedi- 
cated to divine service in sacred places. By the 9th 
of Henry VI., chap. 17, he is to provide for the offi- 
ciating of cures in the avoidance of churches, on 
neglect of the patron's presentation. He is to cer- 
tify loyal or lawful matrimony, general bastardy, 
and excommunication. He is to execute judg- 
ments given in quare impedit, upon the writ ad ad- 
mittendum clericum. He is to attend upon trials for 
life, to report the sufficiency or insufficiency of 
such as demand clergy ; and lastly, he is to ordain 
deacons and presbyters. 

These powers being usurped, or given to bishops, 
jure humano, they may, for just reasons, be taken 
away ; for it has already been proved, in Chap. VII, 
that, according to scripture, a bishop and presbyter 
is one and the same person, their duties being men- 
tioned as the same ; the bishop being to teach and 
rule his church (1 Tim. hi. 2, 5), and the presbyter 
to do the same (1 Pet. v. 2, 3). Presbyters also, in 
scripture, are said to be bishops of the Holy Ghost 

x 2 



308 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 

(Acts xx. 28), and St. Paul charges the presbyters 
ofEphesus, to take heed to the flock over which 
the Holy Ghost had made them (bishops or) over- 
seers. Other bishops the Holy Ghost never made. 
Among the enumeration of church officers, in Eph. 
iv. 11, of which three are extraordinary, and 
have ceased, there remain only the pastor and 
teacher, which is the same with the presbyter. 
The bishop, as he is more than this, is no 
officer given by God ; and it is an encroachment 
upon the kingly office of Christ, to admit other 
officers into the church than he himself has ap- 
pointed. 

Episcopacy, then, as far as it exceeds the pres- 
byter's office, and not being of divine appointment, 
should be destroyed, and presbyters restored to the 
right of ordination, and liberty to preach the whole 
counsel of God, without restraint from a bishop. 
Presbyters should have this share in the discipline 
and government of the church. In a word, all 
superiority of order between bishops and presby- 
ters should be taken away. 

Bishops should be deprived of their baronies, 
and all intermeddling with civil affairs. Institution 
and induction, the jurisdiction of tithes, causes 
matrimonial and testamentary, and other usurpa- 
tions of the ecclesiastical courts, should be restored 
to the civil judicature, and be determined by the 
laws of the land. 

That bishops ought to be reduced to their primi- 



NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 309 

tive state is evident, because their attendance on 
secular affairs, not relating to the church, is a great 
hindrance to their spiritual functions. " No man 
that warreth," saith St. Paul to Timothy, " en- 
tangleth himself with the affairs of this life ;" be- 
cause it is contrary to his ordination vow ; for 
when he enters into Holy Orders, he promises to 
give himself wholly to that vocation. Councils 
and canons in several ages have forbidden bishops 
meddling in secular affairs ; because the twenty- 
four bishops depend upon the two archbishops, 
and take an oath of canonical obedience to 
them ; because their peerage is not of the same 
nature with the temporal lords, being but for life ; 
because they depend upon the crown for transla- 
tion to greater bishoprics ; and because it is not 
fit that twenty- six of them should sit as judges 
upon complaints brought against themselves and 
their order. 

It has been argued, that bishops have for cen- 
turies voted in Parliament. Let it be remembered 
that time and custom ought to be of no weight with 
law makers, on the behalf of things which are 
allowed to be inconvenient. Abbots voted as an- 
ciently in Parliament as bishops, and yet their 
votes were taken away. It has been said, that the 
bishops' voting is no considerable hindrance to 
their spiritual functions ; and that though no clergy- 
man should entangle himself with the affairs of this 
life, the apostle does not exclude him from inter- 



310 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 

meddling. But if the episcopal functions be well 
discharged, the diocese of every bishop is suffi- 
ciently large to employ all his thoughts and 
labour. The design of St. Paul was, most certainly, 
to exhort Timothy to withdraw himself as much as 
possible from the affairs of this life, that his 
thoughts might be more entire for his evangelical 
work ; and, therefore, in another place, he exhorts 
him to give himself wholly to these things. 

It has further been observed, that clergymen have 
always been in the commission of the peace, from 
the first planting of Christianity, and that they are 
the best qualified for it. To this it is answered, 
that they are most unfit for this employment, be- 
cause it has a direct tendency to hinder their use- 
fulness in their ministerial character. Besides, the 
office of magistrate has not been perpetual and 
coeval with Christianity. The first clergymen who 
were justices of the peace, or who had power in 
temporal jurisdiction, were the bishops of Durham 
and York, 34th Edward III. ; for before the Act 
of Conformity, 1st Edward VI., the clergy were 
not put in commission for the peace ; and the rea- 
son of their being then admitted was, that they 
might persuade the people to conformity. But if, 
in conscience, they held it to be inconsistent with 
their spiritual calling, they might refuse. 

If it be judged that the taking away of one whole 
branch from the House of Peers would be a bad 
precedent, and might encourage the Commons, one 



NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 311 

time or other, to cut off the barons, or some other 
degree of the nobility, it must be recollected that 
the peerage of the bishops does not stand upon 
the same footing with that of the rest of the 
nobility. Their honour does not descend to 
their posterity, and they have no right to vote 
in cases of blood. If they had the same right of 
peerage with the temporal lords, no canon of the 
church could deprive them of it ; for it was never 
known, that the canons of the church pretended to 
deprive the barons of England of any part of their 
inherent jurisdiction. 

It has also been said, that if the bench of Bishops 
were deprived of their votes, they would be left under 
very great disadvantages ; for while the meanest 
commoner would be represented in the lower 
House, the bishops would be deprived of this benefit. 
Besides, if they have no share in consenting to the 
laws, either in their persons or their representatives, 
what justice can oblige them to keep those laws ? 
It is answered, that the bishops have the same 
share in the legislation with the rest of the free- 
holders of England ; nor is there any more reason 
why the bishops should be a part of the legislature, 
than the judges or the lawyers, as such, or any 
other incorporated profession of learned men. 

The chief and last argument urged in favour of 
the bishops, which I shall notice, is, that they 
are one of the three estates of the realm ; 
that, as such, they are the representatives of the 



312 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. 

whole body of the clergy. To turn them out, it is 
said, would be to alter the constitution, and to 
take away one branch of the legislature ; the 
Parliament would not then be the complete repre- 
sentative body of the nation, nor would the laws 
which were enacted in their absence be valid. This 
is easily answered. The bishops do not sit in the 
House as a third estate, nor as bishops, but only 
in right of the baronies annexed to their bi- 
shoprics, 5 Will. I. All the bishops have ba- 
ronies except the Bishop of Man, who is as much a 
bishop, to all intents and purposes of jurisdiction 
and ordination, as the others ; but he has no place 
in Parliament, because he does not hold per integram 
baroniam. It must be admitted, that in ancient 
times, the lords spiritual are sometimes mentioned 
as a third estate of the realm ; but it could not be 
intended by this, that the clergy, much less the 
bishops, were an essential part of the legisla- 
ture. If so, it would follow that no Act of Par- 
liament could be valid without their consent; 
whereas various Acts are now in force, from which 
the whole bench of Bishops have dissented, as the 
Act of Conformity, 1 Edw. VI., and the Act of 
Supremacy, 1 Eliz.* If the major part of the 
Barons agree, and the House of Commons concur, 
any Bill may pass into an Act, with the consent of 
the King, though all the bishops dissent, because 

* Nalson's Collections, vol. ii. p. o02, &c. 



NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH. 313 

their votes are over-ruled by the greater part of the 
Peers. 

In the Parliament of Northampton, under Henry 
II., when the bishops challenged their peerage,* 
they said, " Non sedemus hie episcopi sed bar ones " 
— " We sit not here as bishops, but as barons." 
"We are barons, and you are barons here, therefore 
we are peers. Nor did King Charles himself ap- 
prehend the bishops to be one of the three estates ; 
for, in his declaration of June 16, 1642, he calls 
himself one, and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
and the Commons, the other two. In ancient times, 
the prelates were sometimes excluded the Parlia- 
ment, as in 25 of King Edward I., when they 
would not agree to grant an aid to his Majesty in 
the Parliament at Carlisle; and before that time 
several Acts had passed against the oppression of 
the clergy, of which the entry in the record stands 
thus: — "The King having consulted with the 
earls, barons, and other nobles, or by the assent of 
the earls, barons, and other lay people ;" which 
shews that the bishops did not consent, for if they 
had, they would have been first named ; the order 
of nobility, in all ancient records, being prelates, 
earls, and barons. f 

When the convocation had cited Dr. Standish 
before them, for speaking words against their 

* See Fuller's Appeal. 

f Rushworth, part iii. vol. i. p. 396. 



314 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, &C. 

power and privilege, in the 7th of Henry VIII. , it 
was determined by all the judges of the land, in 
presence of the king, that his Majesty might hold 
his Parliament without calling the bishops at all. 
It appears, therefore, from hence, that the bishops 
never were accounted a third estate of the realm, 
in such a sense as to make them an essential 
branch of the legislature. Nor are they the repre- 
sentatives of the clergy, because then the clergy 
would be twice represented in the Houses of Parlia- 
ment. Besides, none can be properly called repre- 
sentatives of others, but such as are chosen by them; 
the bishops not being chosen for this purpose, can- 
not, therefore, properly be the representatives of 
the clergy in Parliament. They sit there, not in 
their spiritual character, but by virtue of the baro- 
nies annexed to their bishoprics, and if the King, 
with consent of Parliament, should annex baronies 
to the courts of justice in Westminster hall, or to 
the supreme magistracy of the city of London, the 
Judges and Lord Mayor for the time being, would 
have the same right of peerage. 

" Cuncta prius tentanda ; sed immedicabile vulnus 
Ense reddendum est, ne pars sincera trahatur." 

The ambition of prelates will not let them see 
how inconsistent two contrary functions are, in 
one and the same person. 



315 



CHAP. XXIX. 



THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 



By the law of England, the church establishment 
may always be reformed by the civil magis- 
trate, without the concurrence of the prelates 
or the people. But when princes or magistrates 
are negligent of their duty, God may stir up the 
subject to perform this work. If otherwise, what 
reformation can be expected in France, in Spain, or 
in Rome itself, for it is not to be imagined, that the 
pope or prelates will consent to their own ruin. 
The Reformation of Henry VIII. was very defective 
in the essentials of doctrine, worship, and govern- 
ment ; it proceeded with a Laodicean lukewarmness. 
The supremacy was transferred from one wrong 
head to another, and the limbs of the anti-christian 
hierarchy were visible in the body. The imper- 
fection of the English Reformation has been the 
complaint of every judicious and wise Christian. 
It has occasioned, from its defects, more schism 



316 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

and separation than ever was known to the other 
reformed churches of the Continent. Episcopacy 
cannot make out its claim to apostolical appoint- 
ment. When the apostles were living, there was 
no difference between a bishop and presbyter ; no 
inequality in power or degree, but an exact parity 
in every branch of their character. We have 
already shewn that there is no mention in scrip- 
ture of a bishop being superior to other pastors. 

An attempt to support the government of the 
Church, from its practice subsequent to the third 
century, or from the writings of the Fathers, is 
fallacious or uncertain. Some there are who unite 
the word of God and antiquity, while others make 
the scriptures the only rule, but antiquity the 
authentic interpreter. The latter fall into a greater 
error than the former ; for the papists bring 
tradition no farther than to an equality of autho- 
rity with the inspired writings ; but the former 
make antiquity the very ground of their belief 
of the sense of scripture, and by that means exalt 
it above the scripture, for the interpretation of 
the Fathers is made the very formal reason why 
they believe the scriptures in such a sense. Thus, 
contrary to the apostle's doctrine, their faith 
must stand in the wisdom of man, and not in the 
power of God. But the law and the testimony must 
be the only rule. Indeed, the practice of the primi- 
tive Church, in many things, cannot certainly be 
known. Even in the apostles' time, Diotrephes 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 317 

moved for the pre-eminence, and the mystery of 
iniquity began to work ; after which, ambition 
and weakness quickly made way for a change in 
Church government. 

No man of discretion will deny the lawfulness 
of the ministry, and the due administration of 
the sacraments in those reformed Churches abroad, 
where there are no diocesan bishops ; for it is 
evident from scripture, as well as confessed by 
many champions for episcopacy, that presbyters 
may ordain presbyters ; # and it is clear that his 
Majesty is not bound by his coronation oath to 
support episcopacy ; for, as relates to the Church, 
when the formal reasons of an oath ceases, the 
obligation is discharged. When an oath has a 
special regard to the benefit of those to whom the 
engagement is made, if the parties interested relax 
upon the point, dispense with the promise, and 
give up their advantage, the obligation is at an 
end. Thus, when the Parliament agrees to the 
repealing of a law, the king's conscience is not tied 
against assenting to the bill ; if it were, the altering 
of any law would be impracticable. It is certain that 
the English Reformation has not perfectly purged 
out the Roman leaven, but has rather depraved the 
discipline of the Church, by conforming to the 
civil polity, and adding many supplemental offices 
to those instituted by the Son of God. 

* See 1 Tim. iv. 14. 



318 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

We are told, by Strype, that the pious scholar, 
Clarke, in a sermon before the Heads, at St. Mary's, 
Cambridge, boldly declared that the hierarchical 
orders of Archbishops, Patriarchs, Metropolitans, 
and so on, were introduced into the Church by 
Satan. What Christian can sanction and support 
the temporal dignities and baronies annexed to the 
office of English bishops ? Who can admire their 
engaging in secular employments and trusts, tend- 
ing to exalt them above their brethren, and being 
incompatible with their characters as ministers of 
Christ, and inconsistent with the due discharge 
of their spiritual functions ? What man, who is 
a believer in the New Testament dispensation, can 
uphold the titles and offices of archdeacons, deans, 
chapters, and other officials belonging to cathedrals, 
which have no foundation in scripture, or in the 
first ages of the Christian Church ? 

The non-conformists, under Archbishop Parker, 
bitterly complained of the exorbitant power and 
jurisdiction of the bishops, and their chancellors in 
their spiritual courts, as derived from the common 
law of the pope, and not from the word of God, 
or the statute law of the land. It was said by the 
Rev. T. Cartwright, B.D., Fellow of Trinity Col- 
lege, Cambridge, and Lady Margaret's Professor, 
of whom the great and celebrated Beza declares 
that he thought " there was not a more learned 
man under the sun," that the names and functions 
of archbishops and archdeacons ought to be abo- 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 319 

lished, as having no foundation in Scripture. The 
offices of the lawful ministers of the Church, says 
he, viz. bishops and deacons, ought to be reduced to 
the apostolical institution, — the bishops to preach 
the word of God, and pray, and deacons to take 
care of the poor. The government of the Church 
ought not to be intrusted with bishops, chancellors, 
or the officials of archdeacons ; but every Church 
should be governed by its own minister and 
presbyters. Ministers ought not to be at large, 
but every one should have the charge of a certain 
flock. No man should ask, or stand as a candi- 
date, for the ministry. Bishops should not be 
created by civil authority, but ought to be fairly 
chosen by the Church. I would here ask, what 
would this learned professor say were he living at 
the present day ? Me think I hear him exclaim : 
< - Come, ye bishops, away with your superfluities, 
yield up your thousands, be content with hun- 
dreds ; let your portion be priest-like, and not 
prince-like : let the government have the rest of 
your temporalities to assist to pay off the national 
debt, which you and your forefathers contracted ; 
let every parish have a faithful preacher, and every 
city a bishop ; live the remainder of your days 
honestly, and not pompously ; let your future good 
conduct atone for your past offences. This cannot 
be done unless your lands be dispersed and be- 
stowed upon many, which now feed and fatten 
one. Remember that Abimelech, when David in 



320 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

his banishment would have dined with him, kept 
such hospitality, that he had no bread^to give him 
but the shew-bread. Where was his superfluity 
to keep your pretended hospitality ? A bishop, 
says St. Paul, should be blameless, of good be- 
haviour, no brawler, nor striker, nor greedy of 
filthy lucre. The servant of the Lord must not 
strive, but be gentle to all men, patient in meek- 
ness, instructing those that oppose themselves, that 
they may recover themselves out of the snare of 
the devil. Shall the liberties and property of 
mankind be trampled upon by a despotic power ? 
1 ' For both prophet and priest are profane ; yea, 
in my house have I found their wickedness, saith 
the Lord." 

The greater part of the people who call them- 
selves churchmen, are " perishing for lack of know- 
ledge," while the bishops and incumbents are in- 
dulging in luxury, idleness, and sloth. I know a 
bishop, not many hundred miles from Norwich, 
who has spent a great portion of his evenings at 
cards with his secretary and clergy. I know a 
minor canon, not far from the same city, whose 
life and soul is in a game of whist. I know a 
beneficed clergyman, (a favorite with his diocesan) 
who is an organ-builder and a notorious infidel. I 
know one parson who is a Socinian, another a Swe- 
denborgian ; one who sent his servant to London 
to lie-in, where she was taken up under sus- 
picion of murdering the infant. I could go on 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 321 

to enumerate instances of even greater evils com- 
mitted by clergymen of the Church of England ; 
but I forbear, as inconsistency in their conduct is 
too frequently seen in the various parishes of the 
country. The name of parson has become a bye- 
word for hypocrisy, lust, and intolerance ; ex- 
action is characteristic of the order, and leanness 
is in the train of its votaries. The day is past 
and gone, when the mere possession of clerical 
orders insured outward respect and inward vene- 
ration. Cock-fights, coursing, and fox hunting, 
frequently place them on a footing with the lowest 
and most profligate of the neighbourhood. These 
things ought not so to be. I would new model 
the Church ; but by enlarging the terms of com- 
munion, not substituting new ceremonies in the 
room of those already burdensome. In intro- 
ducing a new discipline, if episcopacy be re- 
tained, let the spiritual jurisdiction, which is both 
arbitrary and oppressive, be for ever abolished. 
Let insufferable insolence and intolerance — chil- 
dren of the " man of sin" — unprofitable drones, 
or rather working locusts, consuming thou- 
sands a year without profit to the Church of 
Christ — be for ever banished from our view. The 
Church of England has too long been the harbour 
of the idle and time-serving hypocrite, whose pre- 
bends and livings should immediately be given 
up. Those men who traffic with deaneries, 
double benefices, pensions, advowsons, reversions, 

Y 



322 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

and so on, should give up their charge as unpro- 
fitable servants ; as being those of whom, " Thus 
saith the Lord God, behold, I am against the shep- 
herds ; and I will require my flock at their hand, 
and cause them to cease from feeding the flock ; 
neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any- 
more ; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, 
that they may not be meat for them: for thus 
saith the Lord God, behold, I, even I, will both 
search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shep- 
herd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is 
among his sheep that are scattered ; so will I seek 
out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all 
places where they have been scattered in the 
cloudy and dark day." 

The sixteenth epistle of the first book of Horace, 
the thirteenth satire of Juvenal, and the second 
satire of Perseus, appear to contain the petitions 
of our modern prelates, being expressive of their 
anxiety for temporal good, and their indifference of 
a future life. It is certain that their attachment to 
the pageantry and splendour of office, their fond- 
ness for arbitrary power and consequence, their 
vanity for honour and title, and, above all, their 
thirst for the mammon of unrighteousness, occupy 
the greater part of their time and their talents. 
How much such sticklers for court favour, for 
secular pomp and parade, must inwardly despise 
the humble Jesus, the son of a carpenter, and his 
disciples, the poor fishermen ! 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 323 

This insolence and pride of a bishop impressed 
me most particularly the other day, in a place 
where we would least expect it ; where all the 
partakers of this frail and mortal state should 
appear in a state of equality, — I mean at church, in 
the immediate presence of Him who made high 
and low, rich and poor, and where the gilded and 
painted ornaments on the walls seemed to mock 
the folly of all human pride. The pew of this 
"Reverend Father in God" is raised above the 
others, though its elevation is an obstacle both to 
the eyes and ears of those who are placed in its 
vicinity. It is furnished with rich curtains, 
adorned with linjngsy-and accommodated with 
cushions ; servants in livery walk in his train, 
open the door of his luxurious seat, and one 
carries the burden of a book ! Those who did not 
bow at the name of Jesus, bent with all lowliness 
to his Lordship. The whole of his behaviour led 
me to conclude, that this self-important being 
would scarcely deign to enter heaven, any more 
than he does the church, if he must be reduced to 
an equality with the poor vulgar of the congrega- 
tion. Such men, consistently with their arbitrary 
principles, though they may be indifferent to reli- 
gion, are zealous for the church. But for what 
purpose, I would ask ? They consider the church 
as useful, not only as providing for them, but as 
giving them power to keep down such contemners 
as myself, who will not yield the servile submission 

y2 



324 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

they require. "We read, that Satan offered our 
Saviour all the kingdoms of this world, and their 
glory, if he would fall down and worship him; and 
there is reason to fear, that such idolaters of the 
kingdoms of this world, and their glory, would 
apostatize from Him, who said, " My kingdom is 
not of this world," if the same evil being were to 
make the same offer. The temporalities and 
splendours of the church triumphant endear it 
to them ; but if it continued in its primitive state, 
or in the condition in which it was when poor 
fishermen were its bishops, they would soon 
side, in religious matters, with the hirelings 
of Judas. While they can possess mitres and 
stalls, and be the promoters of arbitrary power 
and principles, they honour the church, though 
they know nothing of Christ; they stickle for 
the bench, though they abandon the creed. An 
ally like the church, possessed of great power 
and influence, must be cherished ; though they 
would be the first, if they knew they must lose 
it, to question its rights and accelerate its sub- 
version. 

Farewell, then, all that truly ennobles an Eng- 
lish bishop. Pride, pomp, and tyranny domineer 
without control ! Gold rules absolutely ! Reason, 
law, and liberty, repose in the tomb with the de- 
parted simplicity of the gospel of the humble Na- 
zarene ! The sun of the spiritual world is extin- 
guished, and my country is overshadowed with 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 325 

darkness and death. Better had it been for a man 
not to have been born, than born in a country 
where religion is prostituted to the unchristian 
purposes of political artifice and the sycophantic 
associations of pulpit placemen. The Tindals, the 
Collins's, the Bolingbrokes, the Humes, the Gib- 
bons, the Voltaires, the Volneys — call them, if you 
please, the miscreant philosophers of France, — 
never did these men so much injury to the cause of 
Christianity as those English bishops and clergy, 
who, under the cloak of religion, prostitute the 
church and the cure of souls to the corruption of 
a venal senate. 



326 



CHAP. XXX. 



THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 



It has already been proved, that, in the ancient 
church, bishops could do nothing without the con- 
sent of the clergy ; nor, in cases of excommunica- 
tion and absolution, without the whole body of the 
church to which the delinquent belonged, as ap- 
pears from the testimonies of Tertullian and St. Cy- 
prian. Dr. Howley, and his brother bishops, have 
been challenged to find, in all antiquity, any autho- 
rity for their delegates, such as proctors, commissa- 
ries, and others, who never received imposition of 
hands. These offices were not known in early times, 
and no instance can be produced of their being 
held, by either laity or clergy, for above four hun- 
dred years after Christ. Even supposing that in 
the third or fourth century, bishops were a dis- 
tinct order from presbyters, yet, let it be re- 
membered, even these men differed very widely 
from the bishops of the church of England. The 
primitive bishops were elected by a free suffrage 



THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, &C. 327 

of the presbyters, but our's by a conge oVelire from 
the king. 

The Parliament, so late as the seventeenth cen- 
tury, thought it right to deprive the bishops and 
clergy of all secular power, which ceased by an 
Act passed and signed by Charles I. The Act runs 
thus : — 

" Whereas, bishops and other persons in holy 
orders ought not to be entangled with secular 
jurisdiction, the office of the ministry being of 
such great importance that it will take up the 
whole man ; and that it is found, by long experi- 
ence, that their intermeddling with secular juris- 
dictions has occasioned great mischiefs and scan- 
dals, both to church and state, his majesty, out of 
his religious care of the church and souls of his 
people, is graciously pleased that it be enacted, 
and by authority of this present Parliament be it 
enacted, that no archbishop, or bishop, or other 
person, that now is, or hereafter shall be in holy 
orders, shall, at any time after the 15th day of 
February, in the year of our Lord 1641, have any 
seat or place, suffrage or vote, or use or execute 
any power or authority in the Parliament of this 
realm, nor shall be of the privy council of his ma- 
jesty, his heirs, or successors, or justices of the 
peace of oyer and terminer, or gaol delivery, or exe- 
cute any temporal authority, by virtue of any com- 
mission ; but shall be wholly disabled and be inca- 
pable to have, receive, use, or execute any of the 



328 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

said places, powers, authorities, and things afore- 
said. 

" And be it further enacted, by the authority- 
aforesaid, that all acts from and after the said 15th 
of February, which shall be done or executed by 
any archbishop or bishop, or any person whatso- 
ever in holy orders ; and all and every suffrage or 
voice given or delivered by them, or any of them, 
or other thing done by them, or any of them, con- 
trary to the purport and true meaning of this Act, 
shall be utterly void, to all intents, constructions, 
and purposes." 

The passing of this Act was attended with public 
rejoicings. 

Of the various schemes offered for the reduction 
of episcopacy, perhaps that of Archbishop Usher 
may be considered the most mild. He was for 
reducing it into the form of synodical government, 
received in the ancient church, in which he sup- 
poses, that of the many elders that ruled the 
church of Ephesus there was a stated president, 
whom our Saviour calls the angel ; and whom 
Ignatius, in one of his Epistles, calls the bishop, 
to whom, in conjunction-^vvith the elders or pres- 
byters, the whole government of the church, both 
as to doctrine and discipline, was committed. He 
therefore proposes, that those be continued ; and, 
for a regulation of their jurisdiction, that suffragans 
should be appointed to hold monthly synods of 
presbyters, from whom there should be an appeal 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 329 

to diocesan, provincial, and national ones, and 
more particularly, 

1. That the rector of every parish, with the 
churchwardens, should admonish and reprove such 
as live scandalously, according to the quality of 
their offence ; and if by this means they are not 
reclaimed, to present them to the next monthly 
synod, and in the mean time debar them the 
Lord's table. 

2. Whereas, by a statute of 26 Henry VIII., 
suffragans are appointed to be created in twenty- 
six several places of this kingdom, the number of 
them may be conformed to the number of the 
several rural deaneries into which every diocese is 
subdivided ; which being done, the suffragan may 
every month assemble a synod of the several rec- 
tors or incumbent pastors within the precinct, and 
according to the major part of their votes conclude 
all matters that should be brought into debate 
before them. 

3. A diocesan synod might be held once or twice 
a year, where all the suffragans, and the rest of 
the rectors and incumbent ministers, or a certain 
select number out of every deanery within that 
diocese, might meet, with whose consent all things 
might be concluded by the bishop or superinten- 
dant, or, in his absence, by one of his suffragans, 
whom he should appoint as moderator in his 
room, and here the transactions of the monthly 
synods might be revised and reformed. 



330 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

4. The provincial synod may consist of all the 
bishops and suffragans, and such of the clergy as 
should be elected out of every diocese within the 
province. The primate of either province might 
be moderator, or in his room one of the bishops 
appointed by him. This synod might be held 
every third year ; and, if the Parliament be sitting, 
both the primates and provincial synods might join 
together, and make up one national synod, wherein 
all appeals from inferior synods might be received, 
all their acts examined, and all ecclesiastical affairs 
relating to the state of the church in general esta- 
blished. 

The religion of the papists is incompatible with 
any other religion ; it is destructive to all others, 
and will endure nothing that opposes it. There 
are other religions that are not right, but not so 
destructive as popery ; for the principles of popery 
are subversive of all states and persons that op- 
pose it. 

Let any man read Archbishop Laud's conference 
with Fisher, the Jesuit : — " Another church," says 
his Grace, " may separate from Rome, if Rome 
will separate from Christ ; and, so far as it sepa- 
rates from him and the faith, so far may another 
church separate from it. I grant the Church of 
Rome to be a true church in essence, though cor- 
rupt in manners and doctrine. And corruption of 
manners, attended with errors in the doctrines of 
faith, is a just cause for one particular church to 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 331 

separate from another/' His Grace then adds, 
with regard to the Church of Rome, " the cause of 
the separation is your's, for you thrust us from 
you, because we called for truth and redress of 
abuses ; for a schism must needs be their's whose 
the cause of it is ; the woe runs full out of the 
mouth of Christ, even against him that gives the 
offence, not against him that takes it. It was ill 
done of those, whoever they were, who first made 
the separation from Rome, — I mean not actual, but 
causal ; for, as I said before, the schism is their's 
whose the cause of it is ; and he makes the sepa- 
ration who gives the first just cause of it, not he 
that makes an actual separation." What will 
Archbishop Howley say to these concessions? 

Although I admit, that the Church of England 
is by no means so corrupt as the Church of 
Rome, it is obviously as lawful to separate 
from the corruptions of one church as from those 
of another. Indeed, it is necessary to do so, when 
those corruptions are imposed as terms of commu- 
nion. We may not use things in idolatry — " And 
there they burnt incense in all the high places, as 
did the heathen whom the Lord carried away be- 
fore them ; and wrought wicked things to provoke 
the Lord to anger. "* 

Eusebius, St. Austin, Calvin, Bucer, Musculus, 
Peter Martyr, Beza, Zanchy, Jewel, Pilkington, 

* 2 Kings, xvii. 11. 



332 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

Bilson, Humphrys, Fulk, Andrews, SutclifFe, and 
others, protest against conformity with idolaters. 
The cross has been abused to superstition and 
idolatry, to drive away devils, to expel diseases, to 
break the force of witchcraft, &c. 

Kneeling (at the sacrament) before the elements, 
believing them to be the real body, &c. This ce- 
remony was not introduced into the church till 
antichrist was at its full height, and is idolatry. 

The primitive Christians, according to Tertul- 
lian, thought it unlawful to kneel at the Lord's 
table ; and the first Council of Nice, a. d. 327, 
made a solemn decree that none may pray kneel- 
ing, but only standing, on the Lord's day, because 
on that day is celebrated the joyful remembrance 
of our Lord's resurrection. To kneel is a gesture 
of sorrow and humiliation, but he that prays stand- 
ing shews himself thankful for the obtaining some 
mercy or favour. Eusebius, # speaking of a man 
that had been admitted to the communion, says, 
" he stood at the table, and put forth his hand to 
receive the holy food." The gesture of kneeling 
is contrary to the nature of the Lord's Supper, 
which is ordained to be a banquet and a sign of 
the sweet familiarity that is between the faithful 
and Him, and of that spiritual nourishment we are 
to receive by feeding on his body and blood by 
faith. The disposition of mind at the Lord's table 

* Hist. Ecc. lib. vii. cap. viii. 



333 

is not so much humility as assurance of faith and 
cheerful thankfulness for the benefits of Christ's 
death. 

Among many other bishops, Sandys, Archbishop 
of York, had no great opinion either of the dis- 
cipline or ceremonies of the church, as appears 
by his last will and testament, in which he ob- 
serves, " But I am now, and ever have been per- 
suaded, that some of these rites and ceremonies 
are not expedient for the church now ; but that in 
the church reformed, and in all this time of the 
gospel, they may better be disused by little and 
little, more and more urged." * Such a testi- 
mony, from the dying lips of one who had been a 
severe persecutor of honest men, for things which 
he always thought had better be disused than 
urged, deserves to be remembered. 

Hooker, the most learned defender of the Church 
of England, in his "Ecclesiastical Polity, " says, 
' ' The positive laws of the church, not being of a 
moral nature, are mutable, and may be changed 
or reversed by the same powers that made them. 
Is there not a necessity now for a change ?" &c. 

The church has no discretionary power to ap- 
point what ceremonies, and establish what order 
she pleases, though she may possess some things 
common to human societies which have this 
power, viz. to appoint the time, place, and order of 

* See Maddox's Vindication. 



334 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

public worship. If she had a power to appoint what 
she thought fit, the rites and ceremonies of the 
Church of Rome may be tolerated, for she consi- 
ders them necessary and consistent with the laws 
of Christ ; but, after all the arguments used by the 
supporters of church rites and ceremonies, it is 
ridiculous and absurd to say that this polity has 
been established by the Church of England. 
Every common historian is aware, that the rites 
and ceremonies of this church originated with 
princely authority, that they have changed with the 
caprice and will of kings and queens, that they 
have been ratified by parliaments, corrupted by 
pensions, overawed by prerogative, and are now 
a part of the statute law of the land. But 
the Church of Christ is not a mere voluntary so- 
ciety ; it is a congregation formed and constituted 
by Christ himself, who is the sole king and law- 
giver of it, and who has made sufficient support 
and provision for it, even to the end of the 
world. I defy the whole bench of bishops, to- 
gether with all their dependents, to prove, from 
the New Testament, that this church is empowered 
to alter or amend the constitution of Christ. 
Archbishops, archdeacons, deans, canons, and 
other officials, have been appointed for this pur- 
pose. The true church is spiritual, and her ordi- 
nances, her privileges, and her censures must be so 
too. Those who view her in this light, must see 
that she has no concern with civil rites, property, or 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 335 

estates, nor any power over the conscience, by 
the infliction of pains and penalties. The laws 
of the New Testament are amply sufficient for 
the direction of the Church, and in cases of no 
particular rule or injunction, the prophets, evange- 
lists, pastors, and teachers — the officers appointed 
by Christ for the perfecting of the saints, and for 
edifying his body — will, with mutual forbearance, 
appoint, without the necessity of human authority. 
As Neal justly expresses it, as far as any Church 
is governed by the laws and precepts of the 
New Testament, so far it is a Church of Christ; 
but when it sets up its own bye-laws, as terms of 
communion, or works the policy of the civil magis- 
trate into its constitution, it is so far a creature 
of the state. 

I cannot, upon any human principles, account 
for the spirit of infatuation which has induced the 
bishops and clergy of the Church of England to 
change the doctrines held in the reign of Eli- 
zabeth as essential to eternal salvation, and yet 
retain inviolate the rites and ceremonies which 
were at that period, as well as the present, con- 
sidered by the wise and good as the remnants and 
symbols of antichrist. The doctrines then held I 
will subjoin : they were drawn up and subscribed to, 
by Dr. Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury ; Dr. 
Hutton, Archbishop of York ; Dr. Hitchen, Bishop 
of London ; Dr. Young, Bishop of Rochester ; 
Dr. Vaughan, Bishop of Bangor, and many other 



336 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

learned divines, and were reduced into nine pro- 
positions, commonly called the " Lambeth Articles," 
to which the students in the Universities were 
strictly enjoined to conform : — 

1. That God from eternity has predestinated 
some persons to life, and reprobated others to 
death. 

2. The moving or efficient cause of predesti- 
nation to life, is not foreseen faith, or good works, 
or any other commendable quality in the persons 
predestinated, but the good will and pleasure of 
God. 

3. The number of the predestinate is fixed, and 
cannot be lessened or increased. 

4. They who are not predestinated to salvation 
shall necessarily tre condemned for their sins. 

5. A true, lively, and justifying faith, and the 
sanctifying influence of the Spirit, is not extin- 
guished, nor does it fail, or go off either finally or 
totally. 

6. A justified person has a full assurance and 
certainty of the remission of his sins, and of his 
everlasting salvation by Christ. 

7. Saving grace is not communicated to all 
men, neither have all men such a measure of 
divine assistance, that they may be saved if they will. 

8. No person can come to Christ unless it be 
given him, and unless the Father draw him ; and 
all men are not drawn by the Father, that they 
may come to Christ. 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONTINUED. 337 

9. It is not in any one's will and power to be 
saved. 

In the reign of Charles I. the House of Com- 
mons made the following protestation : — 

" We, the Commons in Parliament assembled, 
do claim, protest, and avow for truth, the sense 
of the articles of religion which were established 
by Parliament in the thirteenth year of our late 
Queen Elizabeth, which, by the public act of the 
Church of England, and by the general and cur- 
rent exposition of the writers of our Church, have 
been delivered unto us. And we reject the sense 
of Jesuits and Arminians, and all others that 
differ from us." 

This protestation, as Dr. Blackburne justly re- 
marks, is equivalent at least to any other resolu- 
tion of the House. It is found amongst the most 
authentic records of Parliament ; and whatever 
force or operation it had the moment it was pub- 
lished, the same it has to this hour, being never 
revoked or repealed in any succeeding Parliament, 
nor containing any one particular, which is not 
in perfect agreement with every part of our pre- 
sent constitution, civil and religious. If it should 
be affirmed, by our present Arminian bishops, that 
no interpretation of the Articles, contrary to that 
which they maintain, has ever been given by 
authority, and should further object to the power 
of laymen to make such interpretation, we have 
only to refer them to the above. Here we find 

z 



338 the; reduction of episcopacy, &c. 

the Parliament declaring that the current sense 
of expositors up to the reign of Charles I. was 
in opposition to the modern interpretation of 
Jesuits and Arminians. And the same authority 
that empowered laymen, in the thirteenth of Eli- 
zabeth, to establish the articles as the doctrines of 
the Church of England, gave power, in the time 
of Charles, to interpret them. 



339~ 



CHAP. XXXI. 



THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY, AND OF THE PRESENT LITURGY, 
NECESSARY FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 

I shall here give those views which many great 
and illustrious Christians, in all ages of the church, 
have entertained upon religion and Church govern- 
ment ; and which are in full accordance with my 
own : — 

OF RELIGION. 

1. The Holy Scriptures are absolutely perfect, 
both as to faith and worship ; and whatsoever is 
enjoined as a part of divine service, that cannot 
be warranted by the said scriptures, is unlawful. 

2. All inventions of men are to be excluded 
from the exercises of religion. 

3. All outward means, instituted to express and 
set forth the inward worship of God, are parts 
of divine worship, and ought, therefore, evidently 
to be prescribed by the word of God. 

4. To institute or ordain any mystical rites or 

ceremonies, and to mingle the same with the 

rites and ceremonies of God's ordinance, is gross 

superstition. 

z 2 



340 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

OF THE CHURCH. 

1. Every congregation or assembly of men, 
ordinarily joining together in the true worship of 
God, is a true and visible church of Christ. 

2. All churches are, in ecclesiastical matters, 
equal, and, by the word of God, ought to have 
the same officers, administrations, orders, and 
forms of worship. 

3. Christ has not subjected any church or con- 
gregation to any other superior ecclesiastical juris- 
diction than that which is within itself; so that 
if a whole church or congregation should err 
in any matters of faith or worship, no other 
churches or spiritual officers have power to cen- 
sure or punish them, but are only to counsel and 
advise them. 

4. Every church ought to have her own spi- 
ritual officers and ministers resident with her, 
and those such as are enjoined by Christ in the 
New Testament, and no other. 

5. Every church ought to be at liberty to choose 
their own spiritual officers. 

6. Ecclesiastical officers or ministers in one 
church, ought not to bear any ecclesiastical office 
in another; nor are they to forsake their call- 
ing without just cause, and such as may be ap- 
proved of by the congregation. 

7. A church, having chosen its spiritual go- 
vernors, ought to live in all due obedience to them, 
agreeably to the word of God. 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 341 

8. The laws and orders of the churches, war- 
ranted by the word of God, are not repugnant 
to civil government, whether monarchical, aristo- 
cratical, or democratical ; and we renounce all 
jurisdiction that is repugnant or derogatory to 
any of these. 

OF MINISTERS. 

1 . The ministers of particular congregations are 
the highest spiritual officers in the church, over 
whom there is no superior minister, by divine 
appointment, but Jesus Christ. 

2. There are not, by divine appointment, or 
in the word of God, any ordinary, national, pro- 
vincial, or diocesan ministers, to whom the minis- 
ters of particular churches are to be subject. 

3. No minister ought to exercise or accept of 
any civil jurisdiction or authority, but ought to 
be wholly employed in spiritual offices and duties, 
to that congregation over which he is appointed. 

4. The supreme office of the minister is to 
preach the word publicly to the congregation ; and 
the people of God ought not to acknowledge 
any for their ministers who are not able, by preach- 
ing, to interpret and apply the word of God 
to them. Consequently, the long list of epis- 
copally-ordained hunting, coursing, cock-fighting, 
pugilistic, and gambling parsons, are to be de- 
cidedly rejected. 

5. In public worship, the minister only is to be 



342 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

the mouth of the congregation to God in prayer ; 
and the people are only to testify their assent 
by the word, Amen. 

6. The church has no power to impose upon 
her ministers, or officers, any other ceremonies or 
injunctions than what Christ has appointed. 

7. In every church there should be a teacher 
to instruct and inform the ignorant, in the main 
principles of religion. 

OF THE ELDERS. 

1. By God's ordinance, the congregation should 
choose, as well as the minister, other assist- 
ants in the government of the church, who are, 
jointly with the minister, to be overseers of the 
manners and conversation of all the congregation. 

2. These are to be chosen from the gravest 
and most discreet members, who are also of some 
note in the world, and able to support themselves. 

OF CHURCH CENSURE. 

1 . The spiritual keys of the church are commit- 
ted to her spiritual officers, and to no others. 

2. By virtue of those keys, church officers are not 
to examine and make inquisition into the hearts of 
men, nor molest them upon private suspicions, or 
uncertain reports, but to proceed only upon open and 
notorious crimes. If the offender be convinced, they 
are not to scorn, deride, taunt, or revile him with 
contumelious language, nor to procure proctors to 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 343 

make personal invectives against him ; but to use 
him brotherly, and, if possible, to move him to 
repentance. If he repent, they are not to proceed 
to censure, but to accept his sorrow and contrition 
as a sufficient satisfaction to the church, without 
imposing any fines, or taking any fees, or enjoining 
any outward mark of shame, as the white sheet, 
so ridiculously used in the Church of England. 
If the offender be obstinate, and shew no sign of 
repentance, and if his crime be fully proved upon 
him, and be of such a nature as to deserve a censure 
according to the word of God, then the ecclesias- 
tical officers, with the free consent of the whole 
congregation, and not otherwise, are first to sus- 
pend him from the sacrament, praying for him at 
the same time, that God would give him repent- 
ance to the acknowledgment of his fault ; and if 
this does not humble him, they are then to de- 
nounce him to be as yet no member of the kingdom 
of Heaven, or of that congregation, and so are to 
leave him to God. # 

* This is all the ecclesiastical jurisdiction that any spiritual 
officers are to use against any man for the greatest crime that 
can be committed. 

If the offender be a civil superior, or a supreme governor, 
they are to behave towards him with all the reverence and civil 
subjection that his honour or high office in the state may re- 
quire, and to go in a humble manner and acquaint him with his 
faults. If he voluntarily withdraw from the communion, they 
have no further concern with him. 



344 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 
OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

1 . The civil magistrate has supreme civil power 
over all persons within his dominions. 

2. All ecclesiastical officers, as well as other 
persons, are therefore punishable by the civil 
magistrate for civil offences. 

3. The pope is an antichrist, because he sup- 
ports idolatry, and usurps the supremacy over 
kings and princes. All who defend and support 
the popish faith and deception are enemies to the 
king's supremacy. 

4. No church officers have power to deprive the 
king of any branch of his royal prerogative, much 
less of his supremacy, which is inseparable from 
him. 

5. No ecclesiastical officers have power over 
the bodies, lives, goods, or liberties, of any person 
whatever. 

6. If a king, after he has held communion with 
a Christian church, shall turn apostate, or live in a 
course of open defiance to the laws of God and 
religion, the church governors are to give over 
their spiritual charge and tuition of him, which by 
calling from God and the king they did undertake, 
and more than this they may not do ; for the king 
still retains his supreme authority, as entirely, and 
in as ample a manner, as if he were the most 
Christian prince in the world. 

7. We are so far from claiming any supremacy 
to ourselves, that we exclude from ourselves all 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 345 

secular pomp and power ; holding it a sin to 
punish men in their bodies, goods, liberties, or 
lives, for any merely spiritual offence. 

MARRIAGE. 

In 1653, the solemnizing of matrimony, being 
considered a civil contract, was put into the hands 
of justices of the peace, by an ordinance which 
enacts, " that after the 29th of September, 1653, 
all persons who shall agree to be married within 
the commonwealth of England, shall deliver in 
their names and places of abode, with the names 
of their parents, guardians, and overseers, to the 
registrar of the parish where each party lives, who 
shall publish the banns in the church or chapel 
three several Lord's days, after the morning ser- 
vice, or else in the market-place three several 
weeks successively, between the hours of eleven 
and two, on a market day if the party desire it. 
The registrar shall make out a certificate of the 
due performance of one or the other, at the request 
of the parties concerned, without which they shall 
not proceed to marriage. 

" It is further enacted, that all persons intend- 
ing to marry shall come before some justice of 
the peace within the county, city, or town cor- 
porate, when publication has been made as afore- 
said, with their certificate, and with sufficient 
proof of the consent of the parents, if either party 



346 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

be under age, and then the marriage shall pro- 
ceed in this manner — 

' ' The man to be married shall take the woman 
by the hand, and distinctly pronounce these words — 
I, A. B., do here, in the presence of God, the 
searcher of all hearts, take thee, C. D., for my 
wedded wife ; and do also, in the presence of God, 
and before these witnesses, promise to be to thee 
a loving and faithful husband. 

" Then the woman, taking the man by the hand, 
shall plainly and distinctly pronounce these words — 
I, C. D., do here, in the presence of God, the 
searcher of all hearts, take thee, A. B., for my 
wedded husband ; and do also, in the presence of 
God, and before these witnesses, promise to be 
to thee a loving, faithful, and obedient wife. 

" After this, the justice may and shall declare 
the said man and woman to be, from henceforth, 
husband and wife ; and from and after such con- 
sent so expressed, and such declaration made of 
the same, as to the form of marriage, it shall be 
good and effectual in law ; and no other marriage 
whatsoever, within the commonwealth of England, 
after the 29th of September, 1653, shall be held 
or accounted a marriage, according to the law of 
England." 



I shall now add a few propositions, to which I 
earnestly beg the attention of my countrymen ; — 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 347 

1. In reforming the Church of England, it is 
necessary to reduce all things to the apostolical 
institution. 

2. No man ought to be admitted into the minis- 
try, but who is capable of preaching. 

3. None but such a minister of the word ought 
to pray publicly in the Church, or administer the 
sacrament. 

4. Popish ordinations are not valid, (conse- 
quently, the ordinations of the Church of England 
are not.) 

5. Only canonical scriptures ought to be read 
publicly in the Church. 

6. The public liturgy should be so framed, that 
there should be no private praying or reading in 
the Church, but that all the people attend to the 
prayers of the minister. 

7. The care of burying the dead does not 
belong more to the ministerial office than to the 
rest of the Church. 

8. Equal reverence is due to all canonical scrip- 
tures, and to all the names of God ; there is, there- 
fore, no reason why the people should stand at the 
reading of the Gospel, or bow at the name of Jesus. 

9. It is as lawful to sit at the Lord's table, as to 
kneel or stand. 

10. The Lord's Supper ought not to be admi- 
nistered in private, nor should baptism be admi- 
nistered by women, or lay persons. 



348 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

1 1 . The sign of the cross in baptism is super- 
stitious. 

12. It is reasonable and proper, that the parent 
should offer his own child to baptism, making a 
confession of that faith he intends to educate it 
in, without being obliged to answer, in the child's 
name, " I will," "I will not," "I believe," 
and so on. 

13. In giving names to children, it is conve- 
nient to avoid paganism, as well as the names 
and offices of Christ, angels, &c. 

14. The present mode of marriage is papistical, 
and, in these times, intolerable. 

15. The observation of Lent, and fasting at par- 
ticular times, are superstitious. 

16. The observation of saints'-day festivals is 
unlawful. 

17. In ordaining of ministers, the pronouncing 
those words, " Receive thou the Holy Ghost," is 
both ridiculous and wicked. 

I do not dispute the lawfulness of a form of 
prayer, provided due liberty be given to the mi- 
nister to exercise his own judgment on this sub- 
ject. But who will sanction the superstitious 
observance of saints'-days, fast-days, church fes- 
tivals, and church holidays ; the chanting of 
psalms, and all the paraphernalia of cathedral 
worship ; the sign of the cross in baptism, the 
baptism of midwives, the use of godfathers and 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 349 

godmothers to the exclusion of parents from 
being securities for the education of their children; 
bowing only at the name of Jesus, and not at that 
of Christ ; the symbol of the ring in marriage, the 
unholy lives of ministers and bishops, the un- 
scriptural mode of ordaining libertines to the 
ministry ; the system of pluralists, non-residents, 
tithes, lay patrons, &c. &c. ? These are all the fila- 
ments of popery and priestcraft It should be, 
and it is, the duty of every Christian man and 
woman to endeavour to trace the origin of all 
these abuses, and seek the best mode for their 
annihilation. 

"Feed the flock of God which is among you, 
not as lords over God's heritage. " 1 Peter v. 2, 3; 
1 Tim. iv. 14 ; Acts xiv. 23. 



A subscription to any liturgy, human creeds, 
or articles, is, however, a grievance ; for it is 
next to impossible to frame many propositions in 
human language, to which a country or nation can 
give their hearty concurrence. Some may agree to 
the doctrines, but object to the words or phrases; 
others, who admit the chief doctrines of the gospel, 
may question the more abstruse points of specula- 
tion. Good and illustrious men may entertain dif- 
ferent views of a subject ; and to require subscrip- 
tion to human inventions, may disturb peace of 
conscience, while it proves no barrier to the igno- 



350 THE REDUCTION OF EPISCOPACY &C. NECESSARY 

rant and unprincipled. If the fundamental ar- 
ticles of our faith were drawn up in the language of 
holy scripture, or if those who were appointed to 
examine into the learning and other qualifications 
of ministers, were to be judges of their con- 
fessions of faith, it would answer a better pur- 
pose than subscription to human creeds and ar- 
ticles ; for of what advantage is uniformity in pro- 
fession without an agreement in principle ? 

There is no need that I give further proofs of 
the necessity of a Reformed Church, or of a pro- 
per form of discipline. The fact, that numbers are 
admitted ministers of the Church of England, whose 
lives and conversation are infamous, stare us daily 
in the face. Cant, infidelity, ignorance, and hypo- 
crisy, fill the greater number of our pulpits ; and 
yet these are the men tolerated by the bishops, 
while the people are perishing for lack of know- 
ledge. 

Let the people, who have hitherto been regarded 
as members of this establishment, but who, till now, 
have omitted examining her claims, withdraw im- 
mediately from her communion, and no longer be 
the dupes of corrupt priests and despots. Let every 
man and woman explode papistical folly and ty- 
ranny- Let them unite to enjoy liberty of con- 
science, and support that Church Reform which is 
conducive to general spiritual health. I wish to 
see a Reform of the Church of England made as per- 
fect as human ingenuity and religion can render it ; 



FOR A REFORMED CHURCH, CONCLUDED. 351 

but I would effect this reform without injuring the 
person of the most obnoxious individual who now 
supports the tyranny and corruptions of the 
church. I would recommend to men in power, 
measures of conciliation. Let them come among 
us with healing in their wings. Let them concede, 
with cheerfulness, whatever cannot be denied 
without straining the sense of scripture. Let them 
shew themselves real friends to true religion and 
man. This will remove all grievances, satisfy 
all demands, and turn the spirit of despotism 
to the spirit of Christian philanthropy. 



352 



CHAP. XXXII. 



THE PEACE AND UNITY OP THE CHURCH. 

Bishop Stillingfleet, in his l( Irenicum" goes to 
prove, that no form of church government is of 
divine right, and that the church has no power to 
impose things indifferent. The design of our 
Saviour was to ease men of their former burdens, 
and not to lay on more ; the duties he required 
were no other but such as were necessary, just, 
and reasonable. He that came to take away the 
insupportable yoke of Jewish ceremonies, certainly 
did never intend to gall the necks of his disciples 
with another instead of it ; and it would be strange 
should the church require more than Christ him- 
self did, and make other conditions of her com- 
munion than our Saviour did of discipleship. 
What possible reason can be given why such 
things as are sufficient for eternal salvation should 
not be sufficient for communion with the 
church? And certainly those things are suffi- 
cient for that, which are laid down as the ne- 
cessary duties of Christianity by our Lord and 



PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 353 

Saviour in his word. What ground can there be 
why Christians should not stand upon the same 
terms now, that they did in the time of Christ and 
his apostles ? Was not religion sufficiently guarded 
and fenced in then ? Was there ever more true 
and cordial reverence in the worship of God ? What 
charter hath Christ given the church, to bind men 
up to more than himself has done ; or to exclude 
those from her society who may be admitted into 
heaven ? Will Christ ever thank men at the great 
day, for keeping such out from communion with 
his church, to whom he will vouchsafe not only a 
crown of glory, but it may be aureola, too, if there 
be any such thing then ? 

The grand commission the apostles were sent 
out with, was, only to teach what Christ had com- 
manded them. There is not the least intimation of 
any power being given to impose or require any thing 
beyond what himself had spoken to them, or they 
were directed to, by the immediate guidance of the 
Spirit of God. It is not whether the things com- 
manded and required be lawful or not ; — it is not 
whether indifferences may be determined or no ; — 
it is not how far Christians are bound to submit to 
a restraint of their Christian liberty, which I now 
inquire after : but whether they consult the church's 
peace and unity, who suspend it upon such things. 
We never read of the apostles making laws but of 
things necessary, as in Acts xv. 19. It was not 

. 2a 



354 PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH, 

enough with them, that the things would be neces- 
sary when they had required them ; but they looked 
upon an antecedent necessity, either absolutely or 
for the present state, which was the only ground 
of their imposing these commands upon the Gen- 
tile Christians. But the Holy Ghost never thought 
those things fit to be made matters of law, to 
which all parties should conform. All that the 
apostles required as to this, was mutual forbear- 
ance and condescension towards each other in them. 
The apostles valued not indifferences at all ; and 
those things they accounted as such, which were of 
no concernment to their salvation. And what 
reason is there why men should be tied up so 
strictly to such things, which they may do or let 
alone, and yet be very good Christians ? Without 
all controversy, the main inlet of all the distrac- 
tions, confusions, and divisions of the Christian 
world, has been by adding other conditions of 
church communion than Christ has done. Would 
there be ever the less. peace and unity in a church, 
if a diversity were allowed as to practices supposed 
indifferent ? — Yea, there would be so much more, 
as there was a mutual forbearance and condescen- 
sion as to such things. The unity of the church is 
an unity of love and affection, and not a bare uni- 
formity of practice and opinion. There is nothing 
in the primitive church more deserving our imita- 
tion than the admirable temper, moderation, and 



PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 355 

condescension which was used in it towards its 
members. It was never thought worth the while 
to make any standing laws for rites and customs 
that had no other original but tradition, much less 
to suspend men from her communion for not ob- 
serving them. 

My proposals, then, are, with the bishop — That 
nothing be imposed on the Reformed English 
Church, as necessary, but what is clearly revealed 
in the word of God. 

That nothing be required or determined, but 
what is sufficiently known to be indifferent in its 
own nature. 

That whatever is thus determined be in order 
only to a due performance of what is in general 
required in the word of God, and not to be looked 
upon as any part of divine worship or service. 

That no sanctions be made, nor mulcts nor penal- 
ties be inflicted, on men for their opinions. 

That religion be not clogged with ceremonies ; 
for when they are multiplied too much, though 
lawful, they eat out the heart, life, and vigour 
of Christianity. 

I close by entreating every individual who is 
anxious to walk in the path of truth, that he con- 
tinually prays for the direction of the Holy Spirit, 
that he values his Bible, that he daily reads it, and 
searches himself for those treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge which it contains ; and that he be ever 



356 PEACE AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

jealous of trusting his temporal and eternal happi- 
ness to the judgment and conduct of others, who, 
for the most part, from imbibed prejudices or evil 
designs, represent the most ridiculous, chimerical, 
absurd, and contradictory opinions to be funda- 
mental articles of the Christian faith. 



THE END. 



Harjette and Savill, Printers, 
107, St. Martin's Lane, Charing Cross 



On the 1st of January will be Published, price One 
Shilling, No. I. of 



THE 



<&ttUgiu&Umi Witiovum, 



AND 



BIBLICAL AND LITERARY 



MAGAZINE. 



TUITION. 

Mr. ABBOTT intends to receive into his Family, 
as he has hitherto done, after the Christmas 
Vacation, Six Young Gentlemen to Board and 
Educate. Terms, Fifty Guineas per Annum. 



Just published, in 8vo, price Nine Shillings, 

A HISTORY 



OF THE 



ROMAN AND ENGLISH HIERARCHIES; 

WITH 

AN EXAMINATION 

OF THE 

ASSUMPTIONS, ABUSES, AND INTOLERANCE 

OF 

EPISCOPACY; 

PROVING THE 

&ttt$$itv of a Mefotmrti ISngltssf) tfljurrJ). 



BY JAMES ABBOTT, A.B. 

(LATE FELLOW - COMMONER) 
OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 



" Persecution for diversity of opinions, however ridiculous and absurd they may be, is 
contrary to every principle of sound policy and civil freedom. The names and subordination of 
the clergy, the posture of devotion, the materials and colour of the ministers' garment, the 
joining in a known or unknown form of prayer, and other matters of the same kind, must be left 
to the option of every man's private judgment."— Blackstone. 



LONDON : 
PUBLISHED BY SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, 

STATIONERS' HALL COURT. 
M DCCC XXXI. 



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